curdle
English
WOTD – 22 June 2008
Etymology
Metathesis of earlier dialectal cruddle, crudle, equivalent to curd + -le (frequentative suffix).
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈkɜː.dəl/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈkɝ.dəl/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɜː(r)dəl
Verb
curdle (third-person singular simple present curdles, present participle curdling, simple past and past participle curdled)
- (transitive, intransitive) To form curds so that it no longer flows smoothly; to cause to form such curds. (usually said of milk)
- Too much lemon will curdle the milk in your tea.
- (transitive, intransitive) To clot or coagulate; to cause to congeal, such as through cold. (metaphorically of blood)
- 1814, Walter Scott, Waverley
- "Vich Ian Vohr," it said, in a voice that made my very blood curdle, "beware of to-morrow!"
- 1814, Walter Scott, Waverley
- (transitive) To cause a liquid to spoil and form clumps so that it no longer flows smoothly
- 1836, Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers
- It is enough,' said the agitated Mr. Slurk, pacing to and fro, 'to curdle the ink in one's pen, and induce one to abandon their cause for ever.'
- 1836, Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers
Derived terms
- blood-curdling
- curdled
Translations
to form or cause to form curds
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to coagulate
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to cause to form clumps
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Anagrams
- crudle, curled