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.