curdle

[ kur-dl ]

verb (used with or without object)

, cur·dled, cur·dling.

1. to change into curd; coagulate; congeal.
2. to spoil; turn sour.
3. to go wrong; turn bad or fail:

   Their friendship began to curdle as soon as they became business rivals.

curdle

/ ˈkɜːdəl /

verb

1. to turn or cause to turn into curd
2. curdle someone's blood
   to fill someone with fear

Derived Forms

• ˈcurdler, noun

Other Words From

• curdler noun
• non·curdling adjective noun
• un·curdled adjective
• un·curdling adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of curdle¹

First recorded in 1580–90; curd + -le

Word History and Origins

Origin of curdle¹

C16 ( crudled, past participle): from curd

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. curdle the / one's blood, to fill a person with horror or fear; terrify:

   a scream that curdled the blood.

Example Sentences

But after a while, meaning after the advent of Trump, their humorless, groping sincerity, which I indulged because of course they “meant well,” curdled into flat-out fascist goose-stepping.

From Salon

“I can tell you, having talked to a lot of donors, their depression and despair has curdled into anger,” said Paul Begala, a strategist who twice helped put Bill Clinton in the White House.

From Los Angeles Times

In one dorm, a man showed commissioners a carton of fully curdled milk he said he’d received that day.

From Los Angeles Times

It turns out you can pay a lot for the privilege of real-time “re-enactments,” and he does, commissioning a series of increasingly elaborate set pieces whose pursuit soon curdles into monomania.

From New York Times

The “morning milk” is mixed with the “evening milk” and left to sit overnight before it’s curdled.

From Salon