a semivowel produced with the tongue near the palate (like the initial sound in the English word `yeast')
produced with the front of the tongue near or touching the hard palate (as `y') or with the blade of the tongue near the hard palate (as `ch' in `chin' or `j' in `gin')
relating to or lying near the palate; "palatal index"; "the palatine tonsils"
guided by practical experience and observation rather than theory; "a hardheaded appraisal of our position"; "a hard-nosed labor leader"; "completely practical in his approach to business"; "not ideology but pragmatic politics"
unreasonably rigid in the face of argument or entreaty or attack