(a.) Stiff; precise; rigid.
(n.) A widely diffused vegetable substance found especially in
seeds, bulbs, and tubers, and extracted (as from potatoes, corn, rice,
etc.) as a white, glistening, granular or powdery substance, without
taste or smell, and giving a very peculiar creaking sound when rubbed
between the fingers. It is used as a food, in the production of
commercial grape sugar, for stiffening linen in laundries, in making
paste, etc.
(n.) Fig.: A stiff, formal manner; formality.
(v. t.) To stiffen with starch.
