starch
9
3.7
- noun
- /stɑrtʃ/
:
almidón
- It's just that the dry cleaners left a shine on my trousers, and, uh, my right lapel is slightly bent, and the laundry did not use enough starch in my shirt front.
Examples
-
Then came the shirts, a half hour to each, the starch boiling on the stove.
Fiction book (1997) -
For best results, spray starch on the fabric before ironing to stiffen it properly.
-
I hope I put enough starch in your shirt.
-
I like to use a spray bottle so I can control how much starch I use.
Blog text (13) -
Tell them to put a little starch in the last rinse.
-
The two bigger boys' uniforms were crisp and smelled of starch.
Fiction book (2001) -
When she sits down, you hear her can-can slip crinkle with all that starch I put in it.
Fiction book (1991) -
But at least that had been a familiar place, and it even smelled pleasantly of starch, laundry, and, reassuringly, of his mother.
Fiction book (1999) -
"The black cloth of the dress she wore smelled sweetly of starch," he would scribble into his journal later that day.
Fiction book (1992) -
Evelyn Richardson (1984:91) describes a process for stiffening cloth that involved starch, borax, and a small amount of candle grease.
Academic text (1999)
Synonyms
14
2.5
A fine white powder made from corn that thickens sauces and soups
A fine white powder from the cassava root that people use in cooking
Compounds
- Archaic
A fine white starch from the root of a plant used to thicken food and ease stomach problems
How Thick
- Specialized
1
8.6
- Specialized
2
5.6
- Specialized
3
6.8
- Specialized
10
3.2
9
3.7
∞
1.0
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word starch comes from an old English word stearc meaning 'stiff' or 'strong', the same root as the simple English word stark. So a laundry starch is a product that makes clothes stiff and crisp.