How to Use soft palate in a Sentence

soft palate

noun
  • The soft palate is the back top part of the mouth connected to the hard palate.
    Reven Widener, Health, 31 May 2023
  • But my soft palate being a lazy jerk is not the real culprit here.
    Outside Online, 2 Apr. 2025
  • The uvula and soft palate at the back of our throats also relax.
    Mike Richard, Men's Health, 24 May 2022
  • But most can still control their sniffing via cranial nerves in the soft palate.
    Ferris Jabr, Scientific American, 29 July 2010
  • Palatal petechiae can be lesions or bruising on the soft palate of a person's mouth.
    Reven Widener, Health, 31 May 2023
  • The positions of the lips and tongue, and the soft palate, also influence what kinds of sound are produced.
    Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 24 Jan. 2020
  • Their dissections revealed an eight-inch-wide section of the soft palate that could shift to seal the upper airway.
    Corryn Wetzel, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 Jan. 2022
  • But that’s only if your snoring is coming from your nasal passages—your tongue and soft palate could also be the culprits.
    Paul Kita, Men's Health, 15 Dec. 2022
  • Gravity can cause the tongue and soft palate to fall back and obstruct the airway, making breathing harder.
    Allison Palmer, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9 Apr. 2026
  • Gravity pulls the tongue and soft palate backward in the supine position, which can obstruct the airway.
    Allison Palmer, Charlotte Observer, 9 Apr. 2026
  • This likely tones upper airway muscles (like the soft palate and throat), helping keep the airway open during sleep.
    Hannah Millington, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Aug. 2025
  • When airflow is restricted, the soft palate, tonsils, adenoids, and tongue vibrate against each other as air is forced out.
    Erica Sweeney, Men's Health, 22 Sep. 2022
  • Playing wind instruments has been shown to improve snoring due to its ability to strengthen the soft palate.
    Paul Kita, Men's Health, 15 Dec. 2022
  • Still the aftertaste of raspberry filling clings to her soft palate, as thick and heady and floral as menstrual blood.
    Carly Tagen-Dye, People.com, 30 June 2025
  • Doctors either use lasers to scar and toughen the tissue in the soft palate or insert plastic pillars within the palate that heal over.
    Paul Kita, Men's Health, 15 Dec. 2022
  • The soft palate could be redundant and low-hanging and basically blocking the airway.
    Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 29 June 2023
  • Sniffing strength depends on the position of the soft palate, the tissue in the back of the mouth that controls airflow through the nasal passage.
    IEEE Spectrum, 10 Aug. 2010
  • Individuals learn how to strengthen and control the tongue, lip face, and soft palate muscles so their tongue doesn’t block their airway.
    Deirdre Mundorf, Discover Magazine, 5 Oct. 2021
  • This included his upper and lower eyelids, upper and lower jaws, teeth, nose, cheek structure, neck skin, hard palate and parts of his soft palate.
    Matt Robison, Newsweek, 20 Nov. 2024
  • My exam did find spasms of his soft palate (palatal myoclonus) and twitching around his eyes (blepharo spasm), but these were not as bothersome to him as the pulsing.
    Christopher Linstrom, Discover Magazine, 31 Jan. 2011
  • Mouth taping can aid in the jaw, tongue, and soft palate into a position that would reduce mouth obstruction according to our expert.
    Celeste Polanco, Essence, 17 Jan. 2025
  • Another pertinent example is the flutter of the human soft palate.
    Justin Webster, Scientific American, 31 Mar. 2018
  • Transplanted parts of the face include the donor’s skin, muscle, upper and lower jaws, teeth, cartilage, soft palate, blood vessels, and nerves.
    National Geographic, 8 May 2014
  • It was tested by manipulating a tongue depressor around the uvula, soft palate, and pharyngeal vault.
    Ncbi Rofl, Discover Magazine, 19 Dec. 2010
  • Spicy orchard fruits define the luscious, soft palate underpinned by caramel, vanilla ice cream, and delightful woody mahogany layers.
    Joseph V Micallef, Forbes, 14 Jan. 2025
  • The sniff controller, however, can measure changes in pressure caused by sniffs regulated by the soft palate, independent of breathing.
    Ferris Jabr, Scientific American, 29 July 2010
  • There is a wide range of surgical procedures that open the space for breathing in the throat by removing or repositioning structures such as the soft palate (back of the roof of the mouth) or tongue.
    Eric Kezirian, The Conversation, 28 Oct. 2019
  • People with obstructive sleep apnea or chronic snoring should be especially cautious, because gravity can pull the tongue and soft palate backward and block the airway.
    Allison Palmer, Sacbee.com, 9 Apr. 2026
  • No such screening test exists for oropharyngeal sites the tongue, soft palate, tonsils, the throat behind the nasal cavity and symptoms usually don't appear until cancer is advanced.
    Marie McCullough, chicagotribune.com, 12 Mar. 2018
  • No such screening test exists for oropharyngeal sites - the tongue, soft palate, tonsils, the throat behind the nasal cavity - and symptoms usually don’t appear until cancer is advanced.
    Marie McCullough, miamiherald, 8 Mar. 2018

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

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