(1):
(n.) Fig.: A stiff, formal manner; formality.
(2):
(v. t.) To stiffen with starch.
(3):
(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.
(4):
(a.) Stiff; precise; rigid.