Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A small, fleshy mass of tissue, especially that which hangs from the soft palate above the base of the tongue.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun 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.
  • noun 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.
  • noun 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.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Anat.) The pendent fleshy lobe in the middle of the posterior border of the soft palate.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun anatomy The fleshy appendage that hangs from the back of the palate, that closes the nasopharynx during swallowing.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a small pendant fleshy lobe at the back of the soft palate

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Medieval Latin ūvula, diminutive of Latin ūva, bunch of grapes, uvula.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin uvula ("little grape"), diminutive of uva ("grape").

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Examples

Comments

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  • Like Patella, this anatomical term sounds like a posh girl's name.

    October 6, 2007

  • And there's WeirdNet's continuing fascination with fleshy protuberances...

    December 5, 2007

  • "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."

    December 5, 2007

  • 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)

    April 10, 2008

  • That would have been spectacular.

    April 10, 2008

  • Not so much for the sweetheart, though.

    April 10, 2008