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clabber

[klab-er]South Midland and Southern U.S.
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noun
  1. milk that has soured and thickened; curdled milk.
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verb (used without object)
  1. (of milk) to curdle; to become thick in souring.
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Also clobber.

Origin of clabber

1625–35; < Irish clabar short for bainne clabair bonnyclabber

Regional variation note

Clabber has many regional variations, including bonnyclabber and its variant bonnyclapper in the Northern and Midland U.S., thick milk in the Hudson River Valley and North Midland U.S., lobber and its variant lobbered milk in the Inland North, clobber in the South Midland and Southern U.S., and crud in some widely scattered areas.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for clabber

Historical Examples

  • Mix with buttermilk or clabber to the consistency of biscuit.

    Housekeeping in Old Virginia

    Marion Cabell Tyree

  • Buttermilk, clabber, fresh butter, disappeared in an instant.

    Memories

    Fannie A. (Mrs.) Beers

  • Then she took a tin cup full of clabber, poured a little syrup upon it, and ate it heartily.

  • Ash cake was good wid poke salad and clabber or butter milk and best of all was sweet milk!

  • We have supper at five o'clock, but usually have a bowl of clabber or a glass of milk before going to bed.

    The American Country Girl

    Martha Foote Crow

Word Origin and History for clabber

n.

"mud," 1824, from Irish and Gaelic clabar "mud." Also often short for bonnyclabber.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper