to starch
- verb
- /stɑrtʃ/
- Glad to see you starched that shirt for a change.
- starched shirt
- starched collar
- heavily starched
They actually achieved that by using cornstarch and starching their dress to make it seem very stiff and regal.
- They actually achieved that by using cornstarch and starching their dress to make it seem very stiff and regal.
- And we'd drive by this hotel and we were sort of told to get off the bus and go and look at Anton Edelman's white starched hat and his neckerchief.
Examples
-
In the afternoon, she ironed a basket of starched pillowcases out on the back porch where it was cool.
Fiction book (1993) -
" I don't want to wash and starch them all over again.
Fiction book (1993) -
My dress had to be clean, pressed, starched in summer, and never too short.
Fiction book (1995) -
Tell them if they over-starch my shirts again, they'll hear about it from me.
-
Staff living on the grounds received their shirts each Saturday morning washed, starched, and delivered at a designated time.
Academic text (2005) -
I washed his shorts, I ironed them, and I starched them!
-
His white shirts are heavily starched, his trousers "knife-creased," his black shoes gleaming.
Academic text (1995) -
Both boys wore stiffly starched white shirts, ties, and well-polished leather shoes to school every day.
Fiction book (1990) -
Tablecloths, napkins, handkerchiefs... ...everything hand-washed, ironed and starched.
-
I prefer to starch my shirts to give them a crisp appearance after laundry.
Compounds
- Archaic
A fine white starch from the root of a plant used to thicken food and ease stomach problems
How Stiff
Surface Forms
Etymology
The verb starch comes from the old English stearc meaning 'stiff', so to starch something is simply to make it stiff and firm.