STARCH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does starch mean? 

• STARCH (noun)
  The noun STARCH has 2 senses:

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

2. a commercial preparation of starch that is used to stiffen textile fabrics in laundering

  Familiarity information: STARCH used as a noun is rare.

• STARCH (verb)
  The verb STARCH has 1 sense:

1. stiffen with starch

  Familiarity information: STARCH used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• STARCH (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

amylum; starch

Hypernyms ("starch" is a kind of...):

polyose; polysaccharide (any of a class of carbohydrates whose molecules contain chains of monosaccharide molecules)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "starch"):

arum (starch resembling sago that is obtained from cuckoopint root)

cassava; cassava starch; manioc; manioca (a starch made by leaching and drying the root of the cassava plant; the source of tapioca; a staple food in the tropics)

arrowroot (a nutritive starch obtained from the root of the arrowroot plant)

cornflour; cornstarch (starch prepared from the grains of corn; used in cooking as a thickener)

sago (powdery starch from certain sago palms; used in Asia as a food thickener and textile stiffener)

amyloid (a non-nitrogenous food substance consisting chiefly of starch; any substance resembling starch)

Otaheite arrowroot; Otaheite arrowroot starch (a starch obtained from the root of the pia)

Derivation:

starch (stiffen with starch)

starchy (consisting of or containing starch)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A commercial preparation of starch that is used to stiffen textile fabrics in laundering

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("starch" is a kind of...):

formulation; preparation (a substance prepared according to a formula)

• STARCH (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they starch    ... he / she / it starches   
Past simple: starched   
Past participle: starched   
-ing form: starching   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Stiffen with starch

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

starch clothes

Hypernyms (to "starch" is one way to...):

stiffen (make stiff or stiffer)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

starch (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)

 Context examples 

The hotel was full, and extra "fancy starch" poured in upon them.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

An enzyme that helps the body digest starches.

(Amylase, NCI Dictionary)

A member of the family of vegetables that does not contain starch (sugar molecules joined chemically).

(Nonstarchy vegetable, NCI Dictionary)

Amylase is an enzyme which helps digest glycogen and starch.

(Amylase, NCI Thesaurus)

I shall row and tramp about, so I don't want any starch to think of.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

This species is motile, spore forming, and catalase positive, hydrolyzes casein, starch, and gelatin, and produces the toxin cereulide.

(Bacillus cereus, NCI Thesaurus)

This species is motile, spore forming, catalase positive, urease positive, indole negative, produces hydrogen sulfide, reduces nitrate, and hydrolyzes starch and esculin but not casein or gelatin.

(Bacillus lentus, NCI Thesaurus)

This species is motile, spore forming, catalase positive, reduces nitrate, and hydrolyzes casein, gelatin, starch and esculin.

(Bacillus licheniformis, NCI Thesaurus)

This species is motile, spore forming, catalase positive, hydrolyzes casein, gelatin and starch, does not reduce nitrate, and utilizes citrate as its only carbon source.

(Bacillus megaterium, NCI Thesaurus)

A starch consisting of exclusively alpha-D glucose monomers connected by a 1-4 bond.

(Amylose, NCI Thesaurus/CRCH)