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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Starch \Starch\ (st[aum]rch), a. [AS. stearc stark, strong,
rough. See {Stark}.]
Stiff; precise; rigid. [R.] --Killingbeck.
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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.
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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}.
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2. Fig.: A stiff, formal manner; formality. --Addison.
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{Starch hyacinth} (Bot.), the grape hyacinth; -- so called
because the flowers have the smell of boiled starch. See
under {Grape}.
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Starch \Starch\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Starched} (st[aum]rcht);
p. pr. & vb. n. {Starching}.]
To stiffen with starch.
[1913 Webster] Star chamber