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

\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\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Starched}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Starching}.]
To stiffen with starch.