Starch hyacinth (Bot.), the grape hyacinth; -- so called because the
flowers have the smell of boiled starch. See under Grape.
Starch, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Starched (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Starching.]
To stiffen with starch.
Star"-cham`ber (?), n. [So called (as conjectured by Blackstone) from
being held in a room at the Exchequer where the chests containing
certain Jewish comtracts and obligations called starrs (from the Heb.
shetar, pron. shtar) were kept; or from the stars with which the
ceiling is supposed to have been decorated.] (Eng. Hist.) An ancient
high court exercising jurisdiction in certain cases, mainly criminal,
which sat without the intervention of a jury. It consisted of the
king's council, or of the privy council only with the addition of
certain judges. It could proceed on mere rumor or examine witnesses; it
could apply torture. It was abolished by the Long Parliament in 1641.
Encyc. Brit.
Starched (?), a. 1. Stiffened with starch.