clabber

Meanings

1. 1noununcountable

   Milk that has soured and thickened into a soft, lumpy mass, traditionally eaten or used in cooking.

   Grammar: A mass noun used mainly in the American South: a bowl of clabber.

   Patterns

   • a bowl of clabber

   Her grandmother left raw milk on the counter overnight to make clabber.

   He ate cold clabber with a little sugar for breakfast.

   The farm wife skimmed the cream from the clabber.

2. 2verbtransitive or intransitive

   To turn sour and thicken into soft lumps, as milk does when it is left in a warm place.

   Grammar: Often intransitive: the milk clabbered. Can be transitive: warmth clabbered the milk.

   Patterns

   • milk clabbers
   • clabber something

   The milk began to clabber in the heat of the afternoon.

   Warm weather clabbered the cream before they could use it.

   They let the milk clabber slowly before churning it.

Word forms

Common combinations

clabber milk

Farmers once made clabber milk on purpose.

let it clabber

Let the milk clabber overnight in a warm kitchen.

sour clabber

Sour clabber has a tangy taste like thick yogurt.

clabbered cream

Clabbered cream was often turned into butter.

bonny clabber

Bonny clabber is an old name for soured milk in Ireland.

Synonyms and how they differ

curd

Curd refers to the solid lumps in soured milk, while clabber describes the whole thick mass.

yogurt

Yogurt is made with chosen bacterial cultures and is smoother, whereas clabber thickens naturally.

curdle

Curdle is the more general verb for separating into lumps, and it also applies to sauces and blood.

Word family

clabbered adjective

soured and thickened, said of milk

bonnyclabber noun

an older word for soured, thick milk

Commonly confused: clabber or clobber?

Practice

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