curdle

verb

cur·​dle ˈkər-dᵊl 

curdled; curdling ˈkərd-liŋ 

ˈkər-dᵊl-iŋ

intransitive verb

1

: to form curds

also : to congeal as if by forming curds

a scream curdled in her throat

2

: to go bad or wrong : spoil

transitive verb

1

: to cause curds to form in

curdled milk

2

: spoil, sour

Examples of curdle in a Sentence

Too much heat will make the custard curdle.

Too much heat will curdle the custard.

Recent Examples on the Web

Wife guy, always a little mocking, curdled into the plainly pejorative. —Jeremy Gordon, The Atlantic, 9 June 2025

That those possibilities curdle into exploitation is a result of Elisabeth’s own making. —Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 12 Feb. 2025

This seeming paradise of capitalism soon curdles into a prison that strips the survivors of their humanity, yet at the same time Romero never forgets the humanity that the mass of zombies once had. —James Grebey, Time, 20 June 2025

There’s something striking about how Black Mirror, which primarily fixates on near-futuristic tech conceits as a lens through which to unpack human anxieties, has effectively spanned the length of our collective curdling relationship with technology. —Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 10 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

metathetic variant of cruddle, crudle, frequentative of crud entry 2

First Known Use

1585, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Phrases Containing curdle

• make someone's blood curdle

Rhymes for curdle

• girdle
• hurdle

Kids Definition

curdle

verb

cur·​dle ˈkərd-ᵊl 

curdled; curdling ˈkərd-liŋ 

-ᵊl-iŋ

1

: to form curds

2

: to cause curds to form in

high heat curdled the custard

3

—used in expressions such as make one's blood curdle to indicate a feeling of terror

a ghost story that will make your blood curdle