starch
noun/stɑːtʃ/
/stɑːrtʃ/
- [uncountable, countable] a white carbohydrate food substance found in potatoes, flour, rice, etc.; food containing this
- There's too much starch in your diet.
- You need to cut down on starches.
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- [uncountable] starch prepared in powder form or as a spray and used for making clothes, sheets, etc. stiff
- Spray starch on the shirt collars before ironing them.
Word OriginOld English (recorded only in the past participle sterced ‘stiffened’), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch sterken, German stärken ‘strengthen’, also to stark.
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