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.