I. ˈstem noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English stefn, stemn stem of a plant or ship; stefn akin to Middle Dutch steven stem of a ship, Old Norse stafn, Old English stæf staff; Old English stemn akin to Old High German stam stem of a plant, Old Norse stamn stem of a ship, Greek stamnos wine jar, Old English standan to stand — more at staff , stand
1.
a. : the main and usually wholly or predominantly aerial axis, trunk, or body of a tree or other plant ; specifically : the part of the body of a seed plant that originates from the plumule, constitutes the primary axis, produces and supports secondary branches, leaves, flowers, and other appendages, and differs from the root with which it is continuous in having or having a capacity for forming nodes, leaves, and buds, in developing a cuticle and stomata, and in lacking an endodermis and a protective cap over the meristem — see bulb , corm , tuber ; compare rhizome , stolon
b. : a plant part (as a petiole, peduncle, pedicel, or stalk) that supports one or more leaves, flowers, fruits, or fruiting bodies ; broadly : any plant part (as the stipe of a kelp) that functions primarily in support
c. : a stalk of bananas including the fruit — compare hand
2.
a.
(1) : a piece of timber or cast, forged, or rolled metal to which the sides of a ship are united at the fore end with the lower end scarfed to the keel and the bowsprit resting upon its upper end
(2) chiefly Scotland : a stem or sternpost especially of a sharp-sterned boat
b. : the forepart of a ship : bows , prow ; also : a foremost position
3.
a. : a line of ancestry : stock ; especially : the main ancestral line from which the branches of a family may be considered to have arisen
b. : a fundamental or primitive line within a natural group of which other members of the group can logically be construed as descendants or offshoots
4.
a. : the part of an inflected word that remains unchanged except by phonetic changes or variations throughout a given inflection, is sometimes identical with the root, but is often derived from it with some formative suffix
the root duc serves as the stem of Latin dux (ducs), ducis, leader, and is developed with suffixes into ducere, to lead, ductor, leader, ductus, act of leading, ductilis, ductile
b. obsolete : an original word that serves as a basis for the formation of derivative words (as by the addition of suffixes)
5. : something felt to resemble a plant stem especially in being an elongated process projecting from or supporting some structure: as
a. : a main or heavy stroke of a letter ; also : body 10a — see type illustration
b. : the short perpendicular line extending upward on the right or downward on the left from the head of a musical note
c. : the part of a tobacco pipe from the bowl outward ; usually : the detachable mouthpiece of a tobacco pipe or a cigar or cigarette holder usually provided with a rimmed mouth end — compare bit I 2c
d. : the cylindrical and usually solid support of a piece of stemware (as a goblet)
e. : a narrow elongated base or means of attachment by which a sessile animal is made fast
the contractile stem of a vorticellid
the horny stem of a colonial hydroid
f. : the recording tube of a measuring instrument (as a thermometer)
g. : a shaft of a watch having a threaded top to hold a winding crown and the lower end squared to fit into the winding wheels in the movement and used for winding — see stem-winder
h. : the round portion in some locks about which the ordinary key turns
i. : one of the heavy vertical rods in a stamp battery to which the tappet and boss are attached
j. : a spindle or guide rod on a mechanical part
the rod of a valve is a stem
k. : auger stem
l. : a thread shank for a button
m. slang : a major way (as a street or railroad line) — usually used in the phrase main stem
•
- from stem to stern
II. verb
( stemmed ; stemmed ; stemming ; stems )
Etymology: Middle English stemmen, from stem (I) (stem of a ship)
intransitive verb
1. : to head in a particular direction or move forward against or irrespective of an obstacle
a ship stemming on against a strong current
2. : to hold a straight course : steer
stem toward the sunset
transitive verb
1. archaic : to oppose or cut with or as if with a ship's stem : ram
2. obsolete : to hold (a ship) on course : steer
3.
a. : to make headway against (as an adverse tide, current, or wind)
the fish … was stemming the current at an angle — J.C. Fine
b. : to go counter to : make progress against
III. verb
( stemmed ; stemmed ; stemming ; stems )
Etymology: stem (I) (stem of a plant)
intransitive verb
1. archaic
a. : to grow upward or rise erect like a stem
b. : to produce a stem
2.
a. : to grow out or develop like a stem — usually used with from
an illness that stems from a long-past accident
our hopes stem from the one previous success
b. : to have or trace one's origin or development
transitive verb
1. : to remove the stem or stem and midrib from
stem cherries
stem tobacco leaves
2. : to make stems for or fit with stems (as artificial flowers)
Synonyms: see spring
IV. verb
( stemmed ; stemmed ; stemming ; stems )
Etymology: Middle English stemmen, from Old Norse stemma; akin to Old English stam stammering, Old Norse stamr stammering, blocked, stamma to stammer — more at stammer
transitive verb
1.
a. : to stop or dam up (as a river)
b. : to check or restrain by or as if by damming
cultivating small plots of land … which helps to stem the erosion of the steep hillside — Pamela Gulliver & P.H.Gulliver
— often used in the phrase stem the tide
will not stem the tide of population that threatens to swamp the developing world — Roger Morris
c. : stanch
stem a flow of blood
stem a wound
2. : to brace or set firmly (oneself or one's limbs)
3. : to ram or tamp (as a hole) in preparing to blast
4. : to turn (skis) in stemming
intransitive verb
1. : to restrain or check oneself ; also : to become checked or stanched
after a brief interval the bleeding stemmed
2. : to retard oneself by forcing the heel of one ski or of both skis outward from the line of progress
V. noun
( -s )
1. : something that acts in opposition or resistance
2. : an act or instance of stemming on skis
VI. transitive verb
Etymology: alteration of English dialect steven to bespeak, from Middle English stefnen, stevenen to appoint, specify, from Old English stefnan to appoint, arrange, from stefn voice, time, occasion — more at steven
Britain : to load or contract to load (a ship) with coal within an indicated time