Starch
English Meaning
Stiff; precise; rigid.
- 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.
- Any of various substances, such as natural starch, used to stiffen cloth, as in laundering.
- Foods having a high content of starch, as rice, breads, and potatoes.
- Stiff behavior.
- Vigor; mettle: "Business travel can take the starch out of the most self-assured corporate titan” ( Lisa Faye Kaplan).
- To stiffen with starch.
