starch

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a complex carbohydrate stored by plants and found abundantly in foods such as grain and potatoes

   Rice supplies much of its food energy in the form of starch.

2. 2
   noun

   a preparation of starch used to stiffen fabric during laundering

   A little starch kept the shirt collar crisp.

3. 3
   verb

   to stiffen cloth or clothing with starch

   They starched the linen before pressing it.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Starch is an Old English word related to stark in its original sense “hard, stiff.” The connection reflects starch's use for stiffening cloth.

From Middle English starche and Old English stierce, 'stiffness or rigidity,' from the same Germanic family as stark. The substance was named for its use in making linen stiff; its biochemical sense developed as the plant carbohydrate itself became better understood.

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