curd

[kurd]

See more synonyms for curd on Thesaurus.com

noun

Often curds. a substance consisting mainly of casein and the like, obtained from milk by coagulation, and used as food or made into cheese.
any substance resembling this.
Also called curd cheese. Chiefly Northeastern and Southern U.S. cottage cheese.

the edible flower heads of cauliflower, broccoli, and similar plants.

verb (used with or without object)

to turn into curd; coagulate; congeal.

Origin of curd

1325–75; Middle English curden (v.), variant of crudden to crud, congeal; see crowd¹

Related formsun·curd, verb (used with object)

Regional variation note

3. See cottage cheese.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for curd

paste, clump, lump, pap, mush, mash, sponge, jam, dough, batter, marrow, poultice, grume, curd, set, battery, cluster, array, thickness, bunch

Examples from the Web for curd

Historical Examples of curd

You may make it of milk that is entirely sweet by forming the curd with rennet.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches
Eliza Leslie
Set it near the fire till the curd comes; fill a vat made in the form of a brick, of wheat straw or rushes sewed together.
The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches,
Mary Eaton
Keep the pan covered till the curd be sufficiently firm to cut, three or four times across with a saucer, as the whey leaves it.
The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches,
Mary Eaton
We drew the whey hours ago, and now we are just done putting the curd to press.
The Octopus
Frank Norris
The butter is the lightest and the curd is the heaviest constituent.
The Stock-Feeder's Manual
Charles Alexander Cameron

British Dictionary definitions for curd

curd

noun

(often plural) a substance formed from the coagulation of milk by acid or rennet, used in making cheese or eaten as a food
something similar in consistency

verb

to turn into or become curd

Derived Formscurdy, adjectivecurdiness, noun

Word Origin for curd

C15: from earlier crud, of unknown origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for curd

c.1500, metathesis of crud (late 14c.), originally "any coagulated substance," probably from Old English crudan "to press, drive," from PIE root *greut- "to press, coagulate," perhaps via ancestor of Gaelic gruth (because cognates are unknown in other Germanic or Romance languages).