clearstarch

present singular third person clearstarches · participle present clearstarching · participle past clearstarched · past clearstarched

1. archaictransitiveTo stiffen with starch, and then make clear by clapping with the hands.

   to clearstarch caps

   2 more examples

   to clearstarch muslin

   Had always said and believed that Pickwick would marry Mrs. Bardell; knew that Mrs. Bardell's being engaged to Pickwick was the current topic of conversation in the neighbourhood, after the fainting in July; had been told it herself by Mrs. Mudberry which kept a mangle, and Mrs. Bunkin which clearstarched, but did not see either Mrs. Mudberry or Mrs. Bunkin in court.

   1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “(please specify the chapter name)”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC