Starch

Pronunciation

• US IPA: /stɑɹtʃ/
• UK IPA: /stɑːtʃ/
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)tʃ

Origin

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

Full definition of starch

Noun

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.
4. (countable) Any of various starch-like substances used as a laundry stiffener

Derived terms

• starchy
• cornstarch
• potato starch

Verb

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

Adjective

1. Stiff; precise; rigid.

Anagrams

• charts, trachs