n. & v.
n. 1 an odourless tasteless polysaccharide occurring widely in plants and obtained chiefly from cereals and potatoes, forming an important constitutent of the human diet. 2 a preparation of this for stiffening fabric before ironing. 3 stiffness of manner; formality.
v.tr. stiffen (clothing) with starch. starch-reduced (esp. of food) containing less than the normal proportion of starch. starcher n.
[ earlier as verb: ME sterche f. OE stercan (unrecorded) stiffen f. Gmc: cf. STARK ]