coagulate

American  

[koh-ag-yuh-leyt, koh-ag-yuh-lit, -leyt] / koʊˈæg yəˌleɪt, koʊˈæg yə lɪt, -ˌleɪt /

verb (used with or without object)

coagulated, coagulating

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.

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adjective

1. Obsolete. coagulated.

coagulate British  

/ 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

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noun

1. the solid or semisolid substance produced by coagulation

Other Word Forms

• anticoagulating adjective
• anticoagulation noun
• coagulability noun
• coagulable adjective
• coagulation noun
• coagulative adjective
• coagulatory adjective
• noncoagulating adjective
• noncoagulation noun
• noncoagulative adjective
• recoagulate verb
• recoagulation noun
• uncoagulated adjective
• uncoagulating adjective
• uncoagulative adjective

Etymology

Origin of coagulate

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

Example Sentences

Baken and Baitz’s previous effort coagulated into some sorta cultural critique about the nation going to Hell, while “All’s Fair” celebrates some of the people sending us there in a shameless parade of gaudy excess.

From Salon

Cream-based dips can get coagulated in the heat and stiff in the cold, especially if you don’t have a portable heating device, so a neutral mixed bean dip is definitely the way to go.

From Salon

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

“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