Home › Words › C › curdlecurdle/ˈkɜː.dəl/curdle means to form curds so that it no longer flows smoothly; to cause to form such curds. (usually said of milk).curdle is pronounced /ˈkɜː.dəl/.EtymologyMetathesis of earlier dialectal cruddle, crudle, equivalent to curd + -le (frequentative suffix).verbTo form curds so that it no longer flows smoothly; to cause to form such curds. (usually said of milk)e.g.“Too much lemon will curdle the milk in your tea.”To clot or coagulate; to cause to congeal, such as through cold. (metaphorically of blood)e.g.“"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: LongmTo cause a liquid to spoil and form clumps so that it no longer flows smoothly.e.g.“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:Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).Words closest in meaningBy meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.curd 84% match — The coagulated part of any liquid.; The part of milk that coagulates when it sours or is treated with enzymes; used to make cottage cheese, dahi, etc. vs curdle →curdler 75% match — That which curdles. vs curdle →cruddle 75% match — To curdle. vs curdle →curdled 74% match — Containing curds. vs curdle →curdling 74% match — The act by which something is curdled. vs curdle →curdy 66% match — Like, or full of, curd; coagulated. vs curdle →clabber 66% match — Sour or curdled milk. vs curdle →clabbered 63% match — Thickened or curdled. vs curdle →