Meanings
present singular third person curdles · participle present curdling · participle past curdled · past curdled
- ambitransitiveTo clot or coagulate; to cause to congeal, such as through cold. (metaphorically of blood)
"Vich Ian Vohr," it said, in a voice that made my very blood curdle, "beware of to-morrow!"
1814 July 7, [Walter Scott], Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC1 more example
Trust in the science did not curdle at the same instance as trust in the tech conglomerates, but they are not so dissimilar when weighed against the hype of progress.
2023 December 28, Ross Barkan, “The zeitgeist is changing. A strange, romantic backlash to the tech era looms”, in The Guardian, →ISSN - transitiveTo cause a liquid to spoil and form clumps so that it no longer flows smoothly.
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 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “(please specify the chapter name)”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo form curds so that it no longer flows smoothly; to cause to form such curds. (usually said of milk)
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Metathesis of earlier dialectal cruddle, crudle, equivalent to curd + -le (frequentative suffix).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic تَخَثَّرَ
- تَخَثَّرَ (taḵaṯṯara)to form or cause to form curds
Bulgarian пресичам се, съсирвам се
- пресичам се (presičam se)to form or cause to form curds
- съсирвам се (săsirvam se)to form or cause to form curds
- коагулирам (koaguliram)to coagulate
Catalan quallar
- quallarto form or cause to form curds
Czech srazit, srazit se
- srazitto form or cause to form curds
- srazit seto form or cause to form curds
- srážetto form or cause to form curds
- srážet seto form or cause to form curds
Dutch stremmen, klonteren
- stremmento form or cause to form curds
- klonterento coagulate
- klonterento cause to form clumps
Finnish juoksettaa, juoksettua
- juoksettaato form or cause to form curds
- juoksettuato form or cause to form curds
- hyydyttääto coagulate
- hyytyäto coagulate
- saostaato cause to form clumps
- saostuato cause to form clumps
French cailler, coaguler
- caillerto form or cause to form curds
- coagulerto coagulate
German gerinnen
- gerinnento coagulate
Italian cagliare
- cagliareto form or cause to form curds
Latin concrescō
- concrescōto coagulate
Māori tepe, tetepe
- tepeto form or cause to form curds
- tetepeto form or cause to form curds
- kurukuruwhatuto form or cause to form curds
- pupuruto form or cause to form curds
Persian دلمه شدن, دلمه کردن
- دلمه شدن (dalame šodan)to form or cause to form curds
- دلمه کردن (dalame kardan)to form or cause to form curds
- کلچیدن (kalčidan)to form or cause to form curds
- کلچانیدن (kalčânidan)to form or cause to form curds
Polish ścinać się, zsiadać się
- ścinać sięto form or cause to form curds
- zsiadać sięto form or cause to form curds
Portuguese coalhar, coagular
- coalharto form or cause to form curds
- coagularto coagulate
Romanian închega, închega
- închegato form or cause to form curds
- închegato coagulate
Russian створа́живаться, створо́житься
- створа́живаться (stvoráživatʹsja)to form or cause to form curds
- створо́житься (stvoróžitʹsja)to form or cause to form curds
- створа́живать (stvoráživatʹ)to form or cause to form curds
- створо́жить (stvoróžitʹ)to form or cause to form curds
- свёртываться (svjórtyvatʹsja)to coagulate
- свора́чиваться (svoráčivatʹsja)to coagulate
- сверну́ться (svernútʹsja)to coagulate
- коагули́ровать (koagulírovatʹ)to coagulate
- коагули́роваться (koagulírovatʹsja)to coagulate
- сгуща́ться (sguščátʹsja)to coagulate
- сгусти́ться (sgustítʹsja)to coagulate
- сгуща́ть (sguščátʹ)to cause to form clumps
Spanish cuajar, coagular
- cuajarto form or cause to form curds
- coagularto coagulate
Swedish skära, stelna
- skärato form or cause to form curds
- stelnato coagulate
Tamil துவை, தோய்
- துவை (tuvai)to form or cause to form curds
- தோய் (tōy)to form or cause to form curds
- பிரைகுத்து (piraikuttu)to form or cause to form curds
- பிரைக்கு வை (piraikku vai)to form or cause to form curds
- கட்டு (kaṭṭu)to coagulate
- தோய் (tōy)to coagulate
Ukrainian ґляґа́ти, ву́рдити
- ґляґа́ти (gljagáty)to form or cause to form curds
- ву́рдити (vúrdyty)to form or cause to form curds
- зву́рджувати (zvúrdžuvaty)to form or cause to form curds
- зву́рдити (zvúrdyty)to form or cause to form curds
- зґля́ґатися (zgljágatysja)to form or cause to form curds
- зґляґа́тися (zgljagátysja)to form or cause to form curds
- зву́рджуватися (zvúrdžuvatysja)to form or cause to form curds
- зву́рдитися (zvúrdytysja)to form or cause to form curds
Welsh ceulo
- ceuloto form or cause to form curds
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with curdle
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
curdle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/curdle
“curdle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/curdle. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “curdle,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/curdle.
Source: curdle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.