starch
n 1: a complex carbohydrate found chiefly in seeds, fruits,
tubers, roots and stem pith of plants, notably in corn,
potatoes, wheat, and rice; an important foodstuff and used
otherwise especially in adhesives and as fillers and
stiffeners for paper and textiles [syn: starch, amylum]
2: a commercial preparation of starch that is used to stiffen
textile fabrics in laundering
v 1: stiffen with starch; "starch clothes"
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Starch \Starch\, n. [From starch stiff, cf. G. st[aum]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.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
2. Fig.: A stiff, formal manner; formality. --Addison.
[1913 Webster]
Starch hyacinth (Bot.), the grape hyacinth; -- so called
because the flowers have the smell of boiled starch. See
under Grape.
[1913 Webster]
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