Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Stiffened with starch.
  • Stiffened, as with fright; stiff.
  • Stiff; precise; formal.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Stiffened with starch.
  • adjective Stiff; precise; formal.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb Simple past tense and past participle of starch.
  • adjective Of or pertaining to a garment which has had starch applied.
  • adjective Stiff, formal, rigid; prim and proper.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Between the no-frills shirtdresses in starched white poplin and the sharp pantsuits that were just fashion forward enough, there was plenty for the corporate woman to choose from.

    Luxury Is A La Mode At Celine, Galliano, Givenchy & Akris (PHOTOS) Hilary Moss 2010

  • Between the no-frills shirtdresses in starched white poplin and the sharp pantsuits that were just fashion forward enough, there was plenty for the corporate woman to choose from.

    Luxury Is A La Mode At Celine, Galliano, Givenchy & Akris (PHOTOS) The Huffington Post News Team 2010

  • Between the no-frills shirtdresses in starched white poplin and the sharp pantsuits that were just fashion forward enough, there was plenty for the corporate woman to choose from.

    Luxury Is A La Mode At Celine, Galliano, Givenchy & Akris (PHOTOS) Hilary Moss 2010

  • I see a panoply of rare delights; a pyramid of pretty serving girls, resplendent in starched white and sombre black; a thousand dinner invitations to the best of homes; salons of the demi monde; balls of the influential; country house parties; menus from the best restaurants; witty conversation; unrequited love.

    Genre tattoo « Write Anything 2010

  • They are certainly showing the guys up (guys in starched shirts with folded hands) with their show of public display in the form of protest.

    Think Progress » VIDEO: Protester Disrupts Bolton Hearing 2006

  • Our club isn't one of the rich, exclusive outfits, where the pedigreed children of the establishment eat chocolate-dipped strawberries off silver trays carried by black waiters in starched white uniforms, but one that anyone can join, where geeks and misfits line up with plastic plates for veggie burgers and canned fruit salad.

    Lost in the Meritocracy 2005

  • Our club isn't one of the rich, exclusive outfits, where the pedigreed children of the establishment eat chocolate-dipped strawberries off silver trays carried by black waiters in starched white uniforms, but one that anyone can join, where geeks and misfits line up with plastic plates for veggie burgers and canned fruit salad.

    Lost in the Meritocracy 2005

  • I was looking pale and feeling a bit shaken as waiters in starched white jackets smartly cleared the china teapot and cups from the table, and Thomas rose to bid us good-bye and return to his work.

    A Nasty Business 2002

  • I was looking pale and feeling a bit shaken as waiters in starched white jackets smartly cleared the china teapot and cups from the table, and Thomas rose to bid us good-bye and return to his work.

    A Nasty Business 2002

  • In fact, nobody wears those "starched" uniforms, but that doesn't mean that these young people who are employed in this hotel aren't of the highest pedigree when it comes to their training and backgrounds.

    Mara Gibbs: Everybody Sleeps, Eats Where? In New York, The Greenwich Hotel and Locanda Verde Mara Gibbs 2011

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