Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A small, conical, fleshy mass of tissue suspended from the center of the soft palate.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A small free conical body, projecting downward and backward from the middle of the pendulous margin of the soft palate, composed of the uvular muscles covered by mucous membrane. See cuts under tonsil and mouth.
- n. A prominent section of the inferior vermiform process of the cerebellum, in advance of the pyramid, between the two lateral lobes known as the amygdalæ or tonsils: so called from being likened to the uvula of the palate.
- n. A slight projection of mucous membrane from the bladder into the cystic orifice of the urethra; the uvula vesicæ luette vésicale, or uvula of the bladder.
Wiktionary
- n. anatomy The fleshy appendage that hangs from the back of the palate, that closes the nasopharynx during swallowing.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Anat.) The pendent fleshy lobe in the middle of the posterior border of the soft palate.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a small pendant fleshy lobe at the back of the soft palate
Etymologies
- From Latin uvula ("little grape"), diminutive of uva ("grape"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, from Medieval Latin ūvula, swollen uvula, diminutive of Latin ūva, grape, swollen uvula. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“(Did anyone else's grandmother call their uvula an alligouzal?”
“The uvula is the fleshy thing that hangs down from the roof of your mouth.”
“GROSS: You have a very unique voice, and physically one of the reasons for part of the uniqueness of your singing is that you don't have a uvula, which is that … Ms. O'DAY: Oh, you read my book … GROSS: I did read your book.”
“The uvula is a little piece of flesh that hangs down at the back of your throat.”
“I remember one mum accosting me at preschool to ask if I really had to teach my son the word uvula at age three.”
“And I'm sure if that if you ever did jail time - which is possible, thanks the crimes you committed under your addiction - you'd be telling us all how the head of an unwashed cock banging against your uvula was a big guffaw.”
“I have never been quite free from a tickling pain since the bronchitis of last year, and it has recently assumed the form of extreme relaxation and irritation in the uvula, which is that pendulous appendage which hangs over the orifice of the throat.”
“The uvula is the central lower tip of the soft palate.”
“The uvula is the little teardrop tissue that hangs down from the top of the palate.”
“I've always been intrigued by the idea of uvula piercings.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘uvula’.
-
wallace
Remington, Windsor, prorector, wen, aver, mottle, seltzer, tepee, lapidary, effete, sotto, presbyopia and 355 more...
-
Words that sound dirty but aren't.
When you want to be pedantic AND childish.
titular, masticate, condiment, titmouse, penal, formication, social intercourse, assassination, cacophony, lucubrate, rectify, banal and 131 more...
-
Grapes
sour grapes, grape, grapes, raisin, Nehi grape soda, Petit Verdot, Concord, Pinot Meunier, scuppernong, muscadine, Catawba, seedless and 112 more...
-
Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
-
The Pain of Texting
Words that are a pain in the ass to type in on a numerical keypad on a cell phone because they have consecutive letters that share the same button:
2 - ABC
3 - DEF
4 - GHI...defcon, hi, no, attitude, xylophone, on, monday, monkey, mono, dig, back, babble and 212 more...
-
Ula Ula
Words ending in -ula
hula, uvula, radula, spatula, scapula, scopula, nebula, blastula, peninsula, scoopula, tarantula, tentacula and 1 more...
-
Fun to say
These are the words you want to say for no reason besides how lovely they feel to come out of your mouth. Sometimes you even say them when no one is around.
toast, bleat, uvula, onomatopoeia, krackalackin, welt, pfefferkuchen, bahookie, clamjamfry, dint, kikiriki, rutabaga and 19 more...
-
Serendipity's Words
defenestration, mercurial, syzygy, wicked, iniquitous, metastable, demimonde, entropic, ephemeral, irreligious, frisbee, manifold and 474 more...
-
generationnext's Words
petulant, vehement, pensive, lascivious, vacillate, histrionic, satiated, svelte, lithe, zeitgeist, viscous, sommelier and 526 more...
-
Anatomically Correct
canthus, vibrissa, femoral, sphenoid, dura mater, pia mater, epiglottis, glottis, mons veneris, plaque, tibia, ulna and 96 more...
-
Is it morning yet?
coterie, lexeme, counterbalance, forthright, pigtail, ponytail, french-braid, barrette, listless, counsel, sitting duck, dead duck and 268 more...
-
SoSheShall's list
slurp, coeur, slurple, glop, perp, fluarxx, ropechno, herrherr, burrduhherrherr, sloppy, cheezie balls, eccentric and 634 more...
-
tree's Words
aphasia, anhedonia, promontory, misandry, amanuensis, asymptote, penultimate, muslin, tundra, calico, kinaesthesia, rutabaga and 209 more...
-
Malachi_Constant's Words
triumverate, pandemic, parsnip, delineate, zamboni, parka, laser, swoop, malevolent, benevolent, fracas, tipsy and 372 more...
-
kirstenio's Words
lascivious, transcendant, phantasmagoria, salacious, beatitude, solitude, pseudo, pretentious, inanity, sublimation, clobber, obscurity and 186 more...
-
Not Quite As Awful As They Sound
masticate, absquatulate, adumbrate, afflatus, fetial, anile, bilabial, cineaste, smew, copse, piebald, testudinate and 156 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for uvula.
reesetee Not so much for the sweetheart, though. Apr 10, 2008
bilby That would have been spectacular. Apr 10, 2008
chained_bear Found a cool usage. "One reader barely escaped mid-smooch tragedy when a rubber band on his sweetheart's braces came unhooked and nearly shot him in the uvula. A direct hit would have triggered the same reflex that causes projectile vomiting."
(Guide to Getting It On, 72) Apr 10, 2008
bilby "I met Uvula at the Cabal Club. She was an ice-cream sundae of glitter topped in a beret. I sat quietly at a stool next to her and she blew smoke over her shoulder, anywhere, away away, as if it might melt her illusion of perfection." Dec 5, 2007
chained_bear And there's WeirdNet's continuing fascination with fleshy protuberances... Dec 5, 2007
sonofgroucho Like Patella, this anatomical term sounds like a posh girl's name. Oct 6, 2007