What does starch mean?
Word: Starch
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Starch means a white substance found in foods such as rice, potatoes and wheat that gives our body energy. A starch powder or liquid is also used on cotton clothes to keep them crisp.
How do you spell starch?
Syllables: starch
Tricky part: The vowel sound in the middle is spelt ar, as in car. Children drop the r and write stach, or put e in its place and write sterch.
Watch out for: sterch, stach, storch
Memory tip: Growl the middle like a pirate, st-ARRR-ch, and the a and r will never go missing.
Starch in a sentence
Example 1: Bread and pasta are full of starch.
Example 2: Dadi adds starch to her cotton sarees so they stay crisp.
Example 3: Mother rinsed the rice twice to wash away some of the starch.
Fun Fact
A drop of iodine turns starch a deep blue-black colour, which is how scientists test whether a food contains starch.
Practise the CREST Way
Spellacadabra
Choose the correct option to make a meaningful word:
star_ _
a) sh
b) ck
c) ch
d) ge
Show answer
c) ch. The sound at the end of starch is written ch, as in lunch.
Word Champ
Choose the correct word for the blank:
A boiled potato is soft and floury because it is packed with ______.
a) starch
b) scratch
c) stretch
d) stitch
Show answer
a) starch. Potatoes store their energy as starch, which makes them soft when cooked.
Spell Spies
Choose the pair which has a spelling error:
a) rice : starch
b) ghee : fat
c) oranges : vitamin C
d) lentils : protien
Show answer
d) lentils : protien. Protein has its e before the i: p-r-o-t-e-i-n.
Sound Check
Which of the following words rhymes with starch?
a) march
b) perch
c) porch
d) much
Show answer
a) march. Say both aloud: starch and march end with exactly the same sound.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Sapna's school shirt was starched. How does the collar feel?
a) warm and fluffy
b) soft and floppy
c) stiff and smooth
d) wet and soggy
Show answer
c) stiff and smooth
2. Which of these foods has the least starch?
a) a boiled egg
b) a baked potato
c) a bowl of rice
d) a slice of bread
Show answer
a) a boiled egg
