Adjacent Words

Starch definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

STARCH, n. [G., strength, starch; strong. See Stare and Steer.] A substance used to stiffen linen and other cloth. It is the fecula of flour , or a substance that subsides from water mixed with wheat flour. It is sometimes made from potatoes. Starch forms the greatest portion of farinaceous substances, particularly of wheat flour, and it si the chief aliment of bread.
STARCH, a. Stiff; precise; rigid.
STARCH, v.t. To stiffen with starch.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a complex carbohydrate found chiefly in seeds, fruits, tubers, roots and stem pith of plants, notably in corn, potatoes, wheat, and rice; an important foodstuff and used otherwise especially in adhesives and as fillers and stiffeners for paper and textiles [syn: starch, amylum]
2: a commercial preparation of starch that is used to stiffen textile fabrics in laundering v
1: stiffen with starch; "starch clothes"

Merriam Webster's

I. transitive verb Etymology: Middle English sterchen, probably from Old English *stercan to stiffen; akin to Old English stearc stiff — more at stark Date: 15th century to stiffen with or as if with starch II. noun Date: 15th century 1. a white odorless tasteless granular or powdery complex carbohydrate (C₆H₁₀O₅)_x that is the chief storage form of carbohydrate in plants, is an important foodstuff, and is used also in adhesives and sizes, in laundering, and in pharmacy and medicine 2. a stiff formal manner ; formality 3. resolute vigor

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 an odourless tasteless polysaccharide occurring widely in plants and obtained chiefly from cereals and potatoes, forming an important constitutent of the human diet. 2 a preparation of this for stiffening fabric before ironing. 3 stiffness of manner; formality. --v.tr. stiffen (clothing) with starch. Phrases and idioms: starch-reduced (esp. of food) containing less than the normal proportion of starch. Derivatives: starcher n. Etymology: earlier as verb: ME sterche f. OE stercan (unrecorded) stiffen f. Gmc: cf. STARK

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Starch Starch, a. [AS. stearc stark, strong, rough. See Stark.] Stiff; precise; rigid. [R.] --Killingbeck.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Starch Starch, n. [From starch stiff, cf. G. st["a]rke, fr. stark strong.] 1. (Chem.) 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. Note: Starch is a carbohydrate, being the typical amylose, C6H10O5, and is detected by the fine blue color given to it by free iodine. It is not fermentable as such, but is changed by diastase into dextrin and maltose, and by heating with dilute acids into dextrose. Cf. Sugar, Inulin, and Lichenin. 2. Fig.: A stiff, formal manner; formality. --Addison. Starch hyacinth (Bot.), the grape hyacinth; -- so called because the flowers have the smell of boiled starch. See under Grape.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Starch Starch, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Starched; p. pr. & vb. n. Starching.] To stiffen with starch.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(starches) 1. Starch is a substance that is found in foods such as bread, potatoes, pasta, and rice and gives you energy. N-MASS 2. Starch is a substance that is used for making cloth stiffer, especially cotton and linen.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. See starched.

Moby Thesaurus

aggressiveness, albumen, bang, batter, bonnyclabber, butter, carbohydrate, clabber, cornstarch, cream, curd, dash, dough, drive, egg white, enterprise, fire, gaum, gel, gelatin, get-up-and-go, getup, ginger, glair, glop, glue, gluten, go, goo, gook, goop, gruel, gumbo, gunk, hydroxy aldehyde, hydroxy ketone, initiative, jam, jell, jelly, kick, loblolly, molasses, monosaccharide, mucilage, mucus, pap, paste, pep, pepper, piss and vinegar, pizzazz, polysaccharide, polysaccharose, poop, porridge, pudding, pulp, punch, puree, push, putty, rob, saccharide, semifluid, semiliquid, size, snap, soup, spunk, sticky mess, sugar, syrup, thrust, treacle, trisaccharide, verve, vim, vitality, zing, zip