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Starch - 10 dictionary results

starch

  [stahrch] ,
Use Starch in a Sentence
–noun
1. a white, tasteless, solid carbohydrate, (C6H1 0O5)n, occurring in the form of minute granules in the seeds, tubers, and other parts of plants, and forming an important constituent of rice, corn, wheat, beans, potatoes, and many other vegetable foods.
2. a commercial preparation of this substance used to stiffen textile fabrics in laundering.
3. starches, foods rich in natural starch.
4. stiffness or formality, as of manner: He is so full of starch he can't relax.
5. Informal. vigor; energy; stamina; boldness.
–verb (used with object)
6. to stiffen or treat with starch.
7. to make stiff or rigidly formal (sometimes fol. by up).
Origin:
1375–1425; (v.) late ME sterchen orig., to stiffen, OE stercean to make stiff, strengthen, deriv. of stearc stark; c. G stärken to strengthen; (n.) late ME starch(e), sterche, deriv. of the v.

Related forms:
starchless, adjective
starchlike, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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starch   (stärch)   
n.  
  1. A naturally abundant nutrient carbohydrate, (C6H10O5)n, found chiefly in the seeds, fruits, tubers, roots, and stem pith of plants, notably in corn, potatoes, wheat, and rice, and varying widely in appearance according to source but commonly prepared as a white amorphous tasteless powder.
  2. Any of various substances, such as natural starch, used to stiffen cloth, as in laundering.
  3. starches Foods having a high content of starch, as rice, breads, and potatoes.
    1. Stiff behavior.
    2. Vigor; mettle: "Business travel can take the starch out of the most self-assured corporate titan" (Lisa Faye Kaplan).
tr.v.   starched, starch·ing, starch·es
To stiffen with starch.

[Middle English starche, substance used to stiffen cloth (sense uncertain), from sterchen, to stiffen, from Old English *stercan; see ster-1 in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Starch

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

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.

Starch

Starch\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Starched; p. pr. & vb. n. Starching.] To stiffen with starch.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : Starch
Italian: amido,
German: die Stärke,
Japanese: でん粉
More Translations »

starch  (v.)
1402, from O.E. *stercan (Mercian), *stiercan (W.Saxon) "make rigid," found in stercedferhð "fixed, hard, resolute" (related to stearc "stiff"), from P.Gmc. *starkijanan (cf. Ger. Stärke "strength, starch"), from PIE base *ster- "strong, firm, stiff, rigid" (see stark). The noun meaning "pasty substance used to stiffen cloth" is first recorded c.1440, from the verb. Fig. sense of "stiffness of manner" is recorded from 1705.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: starch
Pronunciation: 'stärch
Function: noun
: 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, has demulcent and absorbent properties, and is used inpharmacy especially as a dusting powder and as a constituent of ointments and pastes
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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starch (stärch)
n.

  1. A naturally abundant nutrient carbohydrate found chiefly in the seeds, fruits, tubers, roots, and stem pith of plants, and commonly prepared as a white, amorphous, tasteless powder used in powders, ointments, and pastes. Also called amylum.
  2. A food having a high content of starch, such as rice, bread, and potatoes.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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starch   (stärch)  Pronunciation Key 
  1. A carbohydrate that is the chief form of stored energy in plants, especially wheat, corn, rice, and potatoes. Starch is a mixture of two different polysaccharides built out of glucose units, and forms a white, tasteless powder when purified. It is an important source of nutrition and is also used to make adhesives, paper, and textiles.
  2. Any of various substances, including natural starch, used to stiffen fabrics.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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starch

see take the starch out of.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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