adjective
- arousing terror; horrifying: a bloodcurdling scream.
adjective
- terrifying; horrifying
also bloodcurdling, 1817, from blood (n.) + present participle of curdle. Also formerly with a noun form, bloodcurdler “incident which freezes the blood,” especially “sensational story,” 1877, slang; also in use in this sense was blood-freezer (1886).