curd

American  

[kurd] / kɜrd /

noun

1. Often curds. a substance consisting mainly of casein and the like, obtained from milk by coagulation, and used as food or made into cheese.

2. any substance resembling this.

3. Also called curd cheese.  Chiefly Northeastern and Southern U.S. cottage cheese.

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

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verb (used with or without object)

1. to turn into curd; coagulate; congeal.

curd British  

/ kɜːd /

noun

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

2. something similar in consistency

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verb

1. to turn into or become curd

Regionalisms

See cottage cheese.

Other Word Forms

• curdiness
  noun
• curdy
  adjective
• uncurd
  verb (used with object)

Etymology

Origin of curd

1325–75; Middle English curden (v.), variant of crudden to crud, congeal; see crowd ¹

Example Sentences

Standing outside a supermarket Ethan tells us he's heard very good reviews of lemon curd hot cross buns.

From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026

Zepeda tops it with mamey curd, brown butter almond cake, and a pinole crumble.

From Salon • May 24, 2025

"I like George Simion," staff member Mihaela announces with a smile, while squeezing liquid from big clumps of curd cheese.

From BBC • May 18, 2025

“Here,” she writes as the ship draws closer to the icy continent, “where certain colors begin: apricot, lemon curd, rose hip, nectarine. All are born in this jam-smudged southern sky.”

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 14, 2023

Ma put her wooden cheese hoop on the board, spread a clean, wet cloth all over the inside of it, and filled it heaping full of the chunks of salted curd.

From "Little House in the Big Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Related Words

• clotting
• clump
• lump