starch

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to: navigation, search

English[edit]

Wikipedia has an article on:

Wikipedia

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old English stearc ‎(stark, strong, rough). See also stark. Compare German Stärke.

Noun[edit]

starch ‎(countable and uncountable, plural starches)

  1. (uncountable) A widely diffused vegetable substance found especially in seeds, bulbs, and tubers, and extracted (as from potatoes, corn, rice, etc.) as a white, glistening, granular or powdery substance, without taste or smell, and giving a very peculiar creaking sound when rubbed between the fingers. It is used as a food, in the production of commercial grape sugar, for stiffening linen in laundries, in making paste, etc.
  2. (nutrition, countable) Carbohydrates, as with grain and potato based foods.
  3. (uncountable, figuratively) A stiff, formal manner; formality.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Addison to this entry?)
  4. (countable) Any of various starch-like substances used as a laundry stiffener

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

starch ‎(third-person singular simple present starches, present participle starching, simple past and past participle starched)

  1. To apply or treat with laundry starch, to create a hard, smooth surface.
    She starched her blouses.

Translations[edit]

Adjective[edit]

starch ‎(not comparable)

  1. Stiff; precise; rigid.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Killingbeck to this entry?)

Translations[edit]

References[edit]

Anagrams[edit]