STEM


Meaning of STEM in English

I. stem 1 /stem/ BrE AmE noun [countable]

[ Language: Old English ; Origin: stefn , stemn ]

1 . the long thin part of a plant, from which leaves, flowers, or fruit grow SYN stalk

2 . the long thin part of a wine glass, ↑ vase etc, between the base and the wide top

3 . the narrow tube of a pipe used to smoke tobacco

4 . long-stemmed/short-stemmed etc having a long stem, a short stem etc:

long-stemmed wine glasses

5 . the part of a word that stays the same when different endings are added to it, for example ‘driv-’ in ‘driving’

II. stem 2 BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle stemmed , present participle stemming ) [transitive]

[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old Norse ; Origin: stemma . stem from 1900-2000 From ⇨ ↑ stem 1 ]

1 . to stop something from happening, spreading, or developing

stem the tide/flow/flood of something

The measures are meant to stem the tide of illegal immigration.

stem the growth/rise/decline etc

an attempt to stem the decline in profits

2 . formal to stop the flow of a liquid:

A tight bandage should stem the bleeding.

stem from something phrasal verb [not in progressive]

to develop as a result of something else:

His headaches stemmed from vision problems.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.