coagulate

[ verb koh-ag-yuh-leyt; adjective koh-ag-yuh-lit, -leyt ]

verb (used with or without object)

, co·ag·u·lat·ed, co·ag·u·lat·ing.

1. to change from a fluid into a thickened mass; curdle; congeal:

   Let the pudding stand two hours until it coagulates.

   Synonyms: thicken, solidify, set, clot

2. Biology. (of blood) to form a clot.
3. Physical Chemistry. (of colloidal particles) to flocculate or cause to flocculate by adding an electrolyte to an electrostatic colloid.

adjective

1. Obsolete. coagulated.

coagulate

/ kəʊˈæɡjʊlətɪv /

verb

1. to cause (a fluid, such as blood) to change into a soft semisolid mass or (of such a fluid) to change into such a mass; clot; curdle
2. chem to separate or cause to separate into distinct constituent phases

noun

1. the solid or semisolid substance produced by coagulation

Derived Forms

• coˌagulaˈbility, noun
• coˈagulable, adjective
• coagulative, adjective
• coˌaguˈlation, noun

Other Words From

• co·agu·lation noun
• co·ag·u·la·to·ry [koh-, ag, -y, uh, -l, uh, -tawr-ee, -tohr-ee], co·ag·u·la·tive [koh-, ag, -y, uh, -ley-tiv, -l, uh, -tiv], adjective
• anti·co·agu·lating adjective
• anti·co·agu·lation noun adjective
• nonco·agu·lating adjective
• nonco·agu·lation noun
• nonco·agu·lative adjective
• reco·agu·late verb recoagulated recoagulating
• reco·agu·lation noun
• unco·agu·lated adjective
• unco·agu·lating adjective
• unco·agu·lative adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of coagulate¹

1350–1400 for earlier past participle senses “solidified, clotted,” 1605–15 coagulate fordef 1; Middle English < Latin coāgulāt ( us ) (past participle of coāgulāre ), equivalent to coāgul ( um ) coagulum + -ātus -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of coagulate¹

C16: from Latin coāgulāre to make (a liquid) curdle, from coāgulum rennet, from cōgere to drive together

Example Sentences

Pumpkin and pecan pie are both custards in my book and they should be baked at a lower temperature to gently and evenly coagulate the eggs.

From Salon

Rennet, an enzyme naturally present in the stomachs of ruminants, would prompt the milk to coagulate, separating into curds and whey, thus laying the groundwork for modern cheese production.

From Salon

If the already bleak mood among Tory MPs is going to coagulate into action - an attempt to topple him - it is perhaps most likely to happen then.

From BBC

“What we are seeing is due to reentry of material—a mixture of burned-up meteors and spacecraft, which slowly coagulates to form particles that settle through the atmosphere,” he says.

From Scientific American

Across the way, “Evil” — a 1973 word-painting related to Ruscha’s series on palindromes, words that read the same backward and forward — is spelled out in dark, coagulated blood that was drawn from the artist’s veins.

From Los Angeles Times