curdle

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to separate a liquid, especially milk, into solid curds and liquid, or to cause it to do so

   Too much lemon juice will curdle the cream.

2. 2
   verb

   to fill someone with intense fear or horror, especially in the expression make one's blood curdle

   The scream from the empty corridor made his blood curdle.

A late-sixteenth-century frequentative formation from the obsolete verb curd, 'to congeal,' with earlier dialectal forms such as cruddle showing metathesis. The frightening sense comes from the old belief or vivid sensation that terror can make the blood congeal.

Topics

External links

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