
Related to starch: glycogen

kick the (natural) stuffing out of someone

 and beat the (natural) stuffing out of someone; take the stuffing out of someone; knock the starch out of someone; knock the stuffing out of someone
Rur. to kick or beat someone severely. Last time I was in a fight with Joe, he kicked the natural stuffing out of me. You do that again and I'll kick the stuffing out of you. Bill threatened to beat the natural stuffing out of any no-'count rascal who laid a hand on his sister.
See also: kick, of, out, stuffing

take the starch out of someone

1. Fig. to make someone less arrogant or stiff. I told a joke that made Mr. Jones laugh very hard. It really took the starch out of him. John is so arrogant. I'd really like to take the starch out of him!
2. Fig. to make someone tired and weak. This hot weather really takes the starch out of me. What a long day! It sure took the starch out of me.
See also: of, out, starch, take

take the starch out of

Deflate or ridicule someone, as in That practical joke at the office party really took the starch out of Nick. This expression, first recorded in 1840, alludes to the starch used to stiffen a shirt.
See also: of, out, starch, take


and starchy
mod. alcohol intoxicated. (see also stiff.) No, he wasn’t quite stiff, but he was starched.
See also: starch

take the starch out of someone

tv. to reduce someone’s self-assurance; to reduce someone’s conceit. I took the starch out of Kelly by telling him where he was headed if he didn’t change his ways.
See also: of, out, starch, take
References in periodicals archive ?
A review of the physicochemical and functional properties of Tacca starch and its derivatives as would be seen in this paper reveals that it can compare favourably with corn and cassava starches thereby freeing cassava tubers to produce staple foods that will alleviate hunger in many African countries especially in Nigeria and tubers like Tacca, can be maximally utilized for the industrial starch production.
Then they measured their resistant starch content after they were served hot, chilled, or chilled first then reheated.
During the night, mechanisms inside leaf calculate size of the store of starch and calculate the length of time until dawn.
Oxidized starch was prepared according to the method of Wang and Wang, (2003) with some modifications.
The science driving the consumer awareness of natural resistant starch as a better-for-you carbohydrate is Hi-maize science.
Starch manufacturers sell "native" and several types of modified starches to the paper industry.
Willett reported that starch/PHEE (poly(hydroxyester ether)) composite with 40-wt% unmodified starch exhibited good interface adhesion (21).
Using diethylstilbestrol (DES) as a positive control, investigators determined that the relative potency of the test compounds was DES 4 ppb < sucrose < soybean oil < corn starch < dextrose < corn oil < DES 6 ppb.
The chapter on "Yellow Starch," for example, does not identify why yellow starch has "national" implications, provide a brief description of Coriolanus, or explain the significance of the vestarianpapist debate in such a way that even a committed reader outside the field can understand without considerable extra research.
In the beginning, according to Rhonda Witwer, business development Manage--Nutrition, National Starch spent a lot of time developing modified food starches, eventually moving on to functional native starches and finally to resistant starches.
United Business Media (UBM; London) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Roper Starch Worldwide (New York), the leading U.
made the new material by molding and baking a dough-like concoction of wheat starch and fibers from wheat straw.
National Starch and Chemical and the Pulp and Paper Division of Hercules have formed an alliance to market starches.
These changes happen when liquids are thickened, and if you've used a starch to thicken them, the results depend on the kind of starch you've used and how you've used it.