hard palate

noun

: the bony anterior part of the palate forming the roof of the mouth

Examples of hard palate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The soft palate is the back top part of the mouth connected to the hard palate. Reven Widener, Health, 31 May 2023 Then the scientists took MRI scans of the participants’ hard palate, the bony roof of the mouth. Roni Dengler, Discover Magazine, 23 Aug. 2019 Over 50 generations, the transmission of sounds amplified the slight differences of the hard palate the team reported Monday in the journal Nature Human Behavior. Roni Dengler, Discover Magazine, 23 Aug. 2019 But the girl’s nose and hard palate died from the infection and had to be removed. Christina Hall, Detroit Free Press, 15 Nov. 2022 Dangling from the hard palate, burrowed in the nooks and crannies of the tongue and intertwined in the plaque on teeth are the many hundreds of species that make up the human oral microbiome. Eryn Brown, Smithsonian, 8 Nov. 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hard palate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1779, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of hard palate was in 1779

Dictionary Entries Near hard palate

Cite this Entry

“Hard palate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hard%20palate. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

hard palate

noun
: the bony front part of the roof of the mouth

Medical Definition

hard palate

noun
: the bony anterior part of the palate forming the roof of the mouth

More from Merriam-Webster on hard palate

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!