ROOF OF THE MOUTH

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does roof of the mouth mean? 

• ROOF OF THE MOUTH (noun)
  The noun ROOF OF THE MOUTH has 1 sense:

1. the upper surface of the mouth that separates the oral and nasal cavities

  Familiarity information: ROOF OF THE MOUTH used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ROOF OF THE MOUTH (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The upper surface of the mouth that separates the oral and nasal cavities

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

palate; roof of the mouth

Hypernyms ("roof of the mouth" is a kind of...):

surface (the extended two-dimensional outer boundary of a three-dimensional object)

Meronyms (parts of "roof of the mouth"):

gustatory organ; taste bud; tastebud (an oval sensory end organ on the surface of the tongue)

soft palate; velum (a muscular flap that closes off the nasopharynx during swallowing or speaking)

hard palate (the bony part of the roof of the mouth)

Holonyms ("roof of the mouth" is a part of...):

mouth; oral cavity; oral fissure; rima oris (the opening through which food is taken in and vocalizations emerge)

 Context examples 

When they do occur inside the mouth, it is usually on the gums or the roof of the mouth.

(Cold Sores, NIH)

The roof of the mouth is called the "palate."

(Cleft Lip and Palate, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

The front, bony part of the roof of the mouth.

(Hard palate, NCI Dictionary)

The bony anterior part of the roof of the mouth separating the nose from the mouth.

(Hard palate, NCI Thesaurus)

The roof of the mouth.

(Palate, NCI Dictionary)

The tissues of the oral cavity include the lips, the lining inside the cheeks and lips, the front two thirds of the tongue, the upper and lower gums, the floor of the mouth under the tongue, the bony roof of the mouth, and the small area behind the wisdom teeth.

(Oral cavity cancer, NCI Dictionary)

It includes the lips, the lining inside the cheeks and lips, the front two thirds of the tongue, the upper and lower gums, the floor of the mouth under the tongue, the bony roof of the mouth, and the small area behind the wisdom teeth.

(Oral cavity, NCI Dictionary)

The proximal portion of the respiratory passages on either side of the nasal septum lying between the floor of the cranium and the roof of the mouth and extending from the face to the pharynx.

(Nasal Cavity, NCI Thesaurus)

With a cleft palate, the tissue that makes up the roof of the mouth does not join correctly.

(Cleft Lip and Palate, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)