From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcleft palateˌcleft ˈpalate noun [countable] MIa split in the top of the inside of someone’s mouth, that they are born with and that makes it difficult for them to speak clearly
Examples from the Corpus
cleft palate• Once here he will have an operation to repair a cleft palate by plastic surgeon Charles Viva.• Guang Qiu, now 21, born with a cleft palate came as a small baby.• Katya was born with a bilateral hare lip and cleft palate. 