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

Starch, n. [From starch stiff, cf. G. stärke, 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.

&fist; 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, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Starched (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Starching.] To stiffen with starch.

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

Starch, n. [From starch stiff, cf. G. stärke, 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.

&fist; 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, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Starched (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Starching.] To stiffen with starch.

• 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.
  
• Fig.: A stiff, formal manner; formality.
  
• Stiff; precise; rigid.