Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

bloodcurdling

play
adjective blood·cur·dling \ˈbləd-ˌkərd-liŋ, -ˌkər-dəl-iŋ\

Definition of bloodcurdling

  1. :  arousing fright or horror bloodcurdling screams

See bloodcurdling defined for English-language learners

See bloodcurdling defined for kids

Explore M-W

alt-594d2b6325245
'Pride': The Word That Went From Vice to Strength
alt-594ab41a604d2
Trending: Kim and Kanye Might Have Hired a Surrogate Mother
image599301899
Pretty in 'Pink'
istock-refers-to-this-as-a-tumble-of-strawberries-which-sounded-pretty-nice-to-us
June 2017 Words of the Day Quiz

1724

First Known Use of bloodcurdling

1724

BLOODCURDLING Defined for English Language Learners

bloodcurdling

play
adjective

Definition of bloodcurdling for English Language Learners

  • : causing great horror or fear

BLOODCURDLING Defined for Kids

bloodcurdling

play
adjective blood·cur·dling \ˈbləd-ˌkərd-liŋ\

Definition of bloodcurdling for Students

  1. :  causing great horror or fear a bloodcurdling scream

Learn More about bloodcurdling

  1. Spanish Central: Translation of bloodcurdling Nglish: Translation of bloodcurdling for Spanish speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up bloodcurdling? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

argy-bargy

play

a lively discussion

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. surrogate mother From TMZ to the dictionary.

  2. zealot A fanatical partisan

  3. stonewall to be uncooperative, obstructive, or evasive

  4. scurrilous Containing obscenities, abuse, or slander

  5. depose That word might not mean what you think it means.

SEE ALL

BROWSE DICTIONARY

bloodcurdling

WORD GAMES

Take a 3-minute break and test your skills!

  • istock-refers-to-this-as-a-tumble-of-strawberries-which-sounded-pretty-nice-to-us
  • Which is a synonym of garner?
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ
Word Winder's CrossWinder

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

alt-594d2b6325245
'Pride': The Word That Went From Vice to Strength

Do you take pride in Pride?

image599301899
Pink: The Color that Will Change Your Life

From Fuchsia to Baker-Miller Pink

image2144101468
That Sucks Word Alternatives

Your day is the worst. Your vocabulary is the best.

alt-5931949575ca5
'All the Feels,' All the Time

Once more, with 'feels'

Ask the Editors

decimate-video
Is it wrong to use 'decimate' to mean 'destroy'?

Language changes

serial-comma
The Serial Comma

Why don't they call it the Merriam-Webster comma?

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless
Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals
Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

istock-refers-to-this-as-a-tumble-of-strawberries-which-sounded-pretty-nice-to-us
June 2017 Words of the Day Quiz

Summer's first WOTD quiz.

Take the quiz
alt-5941ad7527c3c
Yearbook Superlatives Quiz

Is that your picture under "Largest Vocabulary"?

Take the quiz
Spell It
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Take the quiz
Word Winder's CrossWinder
Word Winder's CrossWinder

A game of winding words.

Play the game