Wiktionary
n. An anatomical genetic trait in which a fissure in the lower jaw causes a visible dimple in the center of the chin.
Wikipedia
The terms cleft chin, chin cleft, dimple chin, or chin dimple, refer to a dimple on the chin. It is a Y-shaped fissure on the chin with an underlying bony peculiarity. Specifically, the chin fissure follows the fissure in the lower jaw bone that resulted from the incomplete fusion of the left and right halves of the jaw bone, or muscle, during the embryonal and fetal development. For other individuals, it can develop over time, often because one half of the jaw is longer than the other, leading to facial asymmetry.
This is an inherited trait in humans, where the dominant gene causes the cleft chin, while the recessive genotype presents without a cleft. However, it is also a classic example for variable penetrance with environmental factors or a modifier gene possibly affecting the phenotypical expression of the actual genotype. Cleft chins are common among people originating from Europe and the Middle East.
In Persian literature, the chin dimple is considered a factor of beauty, and is metaphorically referred to as "the chin pit" or "the chin well": a well in which the poor lover is fallen and trapped.
Usage examples of "cleft chin".
This had earned me a great deal of scowling and disapproval from Take On Chin and Cleft Chin, but the enthusiasm of the young men could not be denied.
The man with the cleft chin jumped out first, and led the way for the chief, who seemed even larger as he came on this crucial visit.
The tall chief did likewise, as did the little fellow with the cleft chin.
He was a beautiful man, no doubt about it, from his finely sculpted face with its cleft chin to his wide shoulders, narrow waist and hips, and long, sinewed legs.
She still possessed an almost tangible sense of him, but his face had become a nebulous thing with a cleft chin and dark eyes, surrounded by an even darker mane of unruly hair.
He nodded wildly, staring at the blacked-out darkeyes of the man with the cleft chin.
The incredibly handsome face, which Anne had decided would look terribly arrogant without the twinkle and the cleft chin and the smile, was beaming calmly at her now as he invited her to step out into the hall, where they could speak more privately.
They laughed again, and on the wagon behind Zouga the tall blond untidily dressed man with the cleft chin and pale blue eyes smiled thoughtfully and murmured to the Committee member beside him.
Her protest was like the horror in her soft brown eyes, like the quivering of her delicately cleft chin.
It was thin, with an aggressive, deeply cleft chin above which was a full, startlingly scarlet mouth.
Out stepped one of the card players from the Inn's dining room -- the balding sandy hair, the deeply cleft chin and wide mouth -- George Nis.
His high cheekbones tapered down to his narrow, slightly cleft chin.
There was a patch of pseudoflesh over an injury on Lewis' narrow, cleft chin, another over the bridge of his sharp nose.