starch

/'sta:tʃ/

Thân thiện

She adds a little starch to the shirt collar before ironing it.

Definition

1. Noun:

   • A white, tasteless, complex carbohydrate: A substance that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in plants, found in foods like grains, potatoes, and rice. It is an important source of energy.
   • A preparation of this substance: A commercial powder used to stiffen fabric, make adhesives, or as a filler in products like paper.

2. Verb:

   • To stiffen fabric: To treat cloth with a starch preparation to make it stiff and crisp.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:

  • Potatoes and bread are rich in starch.
  • She added starch to the laundry to stiffen the shirt collars.

• Verb:

  • He prefers to starch his dress shirts.
  • The cleaner will starch the tablecloth.

Advanced Usage

• Figurative use (Noun): Used informally to refer to formality, vigor, or energy.
  • The old general still has a lot of starch in him. (He still has energy/vigor.)
  • The ceremony was conducted with military starch. (With rigid formality.)

Variants and Related Words

• Starchy (adjective): Containing a lot of starch; or (of behavior/manner) stiff and formal.
  • Corn is a starchy vegetable.
  • His starchy demeanor made the guests uncomfortable.

Synonyms

• Noun (food substance): Carbohydrate, amylose.
• Noun (stiffening agent): Stiffener.
• Verb: Stiffen, size.

Related Phrases

• To take the starch out of someone (idiom): To make someone less confident, energetic, or formal; to deflate.
  • The harsh criticism really took the starch out of the rookie player.

Học thuật

Noun

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

Verb

1. stiffen with starch
   • starch clothes

Từ đồng nghĩa

• amylum