MEANING
To separate or thicken a liquid into lumps, as when milk forms curds.
Use it for
Unsettling changes in secretion; foodlike textures in bodily material; a fluid separatingUse the familiar food process to make an unfamiliar fluid disturbing, without asserting false physiology.
Words that belong together
- curdled milk
- curdle into lumps
- blood-curdling (figurative relative)
On the page
The pale secretion curdled in the dish.
Something in the jar made the milk curdle on contact.
As she watched, the fluid curdled into yellow lumps.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- curdle / curdles
- Past tense
- curdled
- Past participle
- curdled
- Present participle
- curdling
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- curdle / curdles
- Present continuous
- am/is/are curdling
- Present perfect
- have/has curdled
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been curdling
- Past
- curdled
- Past continuous
- was/were curdling
- Past perfect
- had curdled
- Past perfect continuous
- had been curdling
- Future
- will curdle / curdles
- Future continuous
- will be curdling
- Future perfect
- will have curdled
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been curdling
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: horror. Literal for suitable fluids; fear curdling the blood is figurative, not a medical process. Strong in bodily horror when the fluid is visibly lumpy. Verb [base, third-person present, past, past participle, -ing]: curdle, curdles, curdled, curdled, curdling.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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