Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The roof of the mouth in vertebrates having a complete or partial separation of the oral and nasal cavities and consisting of the hard palate and the soft palate.
- noun Botany The projecting part on the lower lip of a bilabiate corolla that closes the throat, as in a snapdragon.
- noun The sense of taste.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The roof of the mouth and floor of the nose; the parts, collectively considered, which separate the oral from the nasal cavity.
- noun Taste; relish: from the idea that the palate is the organ of taste.
- noun The power of relishing mentally; intellectual taste.
- noun In botany, the projection of the lower lip of a personate corolla, more or less completely closing the throat, as in
Linaria and Antirrhinum. - noun In entomology, the epipharynx, a fleshy lobe beneath the labrum.
- To perceive by the taste; taste.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb obsolete To perceive by the taste.
- noun (Anat.) The roof of the mouth.
- noun Relish; taste; liking; -- a sense originating in the mistaken notion that the palate is the organ of taste.
- noun Mental relish; intellectual taste.
- noun (Bot.) A projection in the throat of such flowers as the snapdragon.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Anatomy The
roof of themouth ; theuraniscus . - noun The sense of
taste .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the upper surface of the mouth that separates the oral and nasal cavities
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The _soft palate_ is suspended like a curtain from the hard palate, behind.
Voice Production in Singing and Speaking Based on Scientific Principles (Fourth Edition, Revised and Enlarged) Wesley Mills 1881
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The organs of speech are the lungs and bronchial tubes; the throat, particularly that part of it which is known as the larynx or, in popular parlance, the Adams apple; the nose; the uvula, which is the soft, pointed, and easily movable organ that depends from the rear of the palate; the palate, which is divided into a posterior, movable soft palate or velum and a hard palate; the tongue; the teeth; and the lips.
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The flavors, on the whole, are nice, even if the palate is a bit too floral.
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The flavors, on the whole, are nice, even if the palate is a bit too floral.
LENNDEVOURS: 2009
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Even Howell admits that his palate is at its sharpest in the morning, when he claims to spend a full 45 minutes pondering his first cup of coffee.
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Even Howell admits that his palate is at its sharpest in the morning, when he claims to spend a full 45 minutes pondering his first cup of coffee.
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But now I prefer another category of books, which I call palate cleansers, to junk.
Reading Junk Books 2008
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In the highly mechanized countries, thanks to tinned food, cold storage, synthetic flavouring matters, etc., the palate is almost a dead organ.
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Although I love Korean food, my Korean palate is pretty undiscriminating.
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The medium-bodied palate is exotic with roasted hazelnut, dried fruit, Gewurzty floral and spice notes and hints of peach and vanilla.
LENNDEVOURS: 2009
Dan337 commented on the word palate
January 8, 2011