stem

stem¹ (st

a. The main ascending axis of a plant; a stalk or trunk.

b. A slender stalk supporting or connecting another plant part, such as a leaf or flower.

2. A banana stalk bearing several bunches of bananas.

3. A connecting or supporting part, especially:

a. The tube of a tobacco pipe.

b. The slender upright support of a wineglass or goblet.

c. The small projecting shaft with an expanded crown by which a watch is wound.

d. The rounded rod in the center of certain locks about which the key fits and is turned.

e. The shaft of a feather or hair.

f. The upright stroke of a typeface or letter.

g. Music The vertical line extending from the head of a note.

4. The main line of descent of a family.

5. Linguistics The main part of a word to which affixes are added.

6. Nautical The curved upright beam at the fore of a vessel into which the hull timbers are scarfed to form the prow.

7. The tubular glass structure mounting the filament or electrodes in an incandescent bulb or vacuum tube.

v. stemmed, stem·ming, stems

v.intr.

To have or take origin or descent.

v.tr.

1. To remove the stem of.

2. To provide with a stem.

3. To make headway against: managed to stem the rebellion.

Idiom:

from stem to stern

From one end to another.

[Middle English, from Old English stefn, stemn; see st- in Indo-European roots.]

Synonyms: stem¹, arise, derive, emanate, flow, issue, originate, proceed, rise, spring
These verbs mean to come forth or come into being: customs that stem from the past; misery that arose from war; rights that derive from citizenship; disapproval that emanated from the teacher; happiness that flows from their friendship; prejudice that issues from fear; a proposal that originated in the Congress; a mistake that proceeded from carelessness; rebellion that rises in the provinces; new industries that spring up.

stem ¹

Noun

1. the long thin central part of a plant

2. a stalk that bears a flower, fruit, or leaf

3. the long slender part of anything, such as a wineglass

4. Linguistics the form of a word that remains after removal of all inflectional endings

Verb

[stemming, stemmed]

stem from originate from: this tradition stems from pre-Christian times [Old English stemn]

stem ²

Verb

[stemming, stemmed] to stop or hinder the spread of (something): to stem the flow of firearms [Old Norse stemma]

stem (st

1. The main, often long or slender part of a plant that usually grows upward above the ground and supports other parts, such as branches and leaves. Plants have evolved a number of tissue arrangements in the stem. Seedless vascular plants (such as mosses and ferns) have primary vascular tissue in an inner core, a cylindrical ring, or individual strands scattered amid the ground tissue. In eudicots, magnoliids, and conifers, the stem develops a continuous cylindrical layer or a ring of separate bundles of vascular tissue (including secondary vascular tissue) embedded in the ground tissue. In monocots and some herbaceous eudicots, individual strands of primary vascular tissue are scattered in the ground tissue.

2. A slender stalk supporting or connecting another plant part, such as a leaf or flower.

ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms

Noun	1.	stem - (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed; "thematic vowels are part of the stem" root word, root, theme, radical, base linguistics - the scientific study of language descriptor, form, signifier, word form - the phonological or orthographic sound or appearance of a word that can be used to describe or identify something; "the inflected forms of a word can be represented by a stem and a list of inflections to be attached"
	2.	stem - a slender or elongated structure that supports a plant or fungus or a plant part or plant organ stalk gynophore - the stalk of a pistil that raises it above the receptacle carpophore - a slender stalk that furnishes an axis for a carpel corn stalk, cornstalk - the stalk of a corn plant filament - the stalk of a stamen funicle, funiculus - the stalk of a plant ovule or seed petiolule - the stalk of a leaflet cane - a strong slender often flexible stem as of bamboos, reeds, rattans, or sugar cane plant organ - a functional and structural unit of a plant or fungus sporangiophore - stalk bearing one or more sporangia cutting, slip - a part (sometimes a root or leaf or bud) removed from a plant to propagate a new plant through rooting or grafting tuber - a fleshy underground stem or root serving for reproductive and food storage rhizome, rootstalk, rootstock - a horizontal plant stem with shoots above and roots below serving as a reproductive structure axis - the main stem or central part about which plant organs or plant parts such as branches are arranged caudex - woody stem of palms and tree ferns internode - a segment of a stem between two nodes beanstalk - stem of a bean plant cladode, cladophyll, phylloclad, phylloclade - a flattened stem resembling and functioning as a leaf receptacle - enlarged tip of a stem that bears the floral parts caudex, stock - persistent thickened stem of a herbaceous perennial plant stipe - supporting stalk or stem-like structure especially of a pistil or fern frond or supporting a mushroom cap flower stalk, scape - erect leafless flower stalk growing directly from the ground as in a tulip leafstalk, petiole - the slender stem that supports the blade of a leaf bulb - a modified bud consisting of a thickened globular underground stem serving as a reproductive structure corm - solid swollen underground bulb-shaped stem or stem base and serving as a reproductive structure leaf node, node - (botany) the small swelling that is the part of a plant stem from which one or more leaves emerge branch - a division of a stem, or secondary stem arising from the main stem of a plant culm - stem of plants of the Gramineae halm, haulm - stems of beans and peas and potatoes and grasses collectively as used for thatching and bedding tree trunk, trunk, bole - the main stem of a tree; usually covered with bark; the bole is usually the part that is commercially useful for lumber
	3.	stem - cylinder forming a long narrow part of something shank anchor, ground tackle - a mechanical device that prevents a vessel from moving handgrip, handle, grip, hold - the appendage to an object that is designed to be held in order to use or move it; "he grabbed the hammer by the handle"; "it was an old briefcase but it still had a good grip" key - metal device shaped in such a way that when it is inserted into the appropriate lock the lock's mechanism can be rotated nail - a thin pointed piece of metal that is hammered into materials as a fastener pin - a small slender (often pointed) piece of wood or metal used to support or fasten or attach things wineglass - a glass that has a stem and in which wine is served cylinder - a surface generated by rotating a parallel line around a fixed line
	4.	stem - the tube of a tobacco pipe pipe, tobacco pipe - a tube with a small bowl at one end; used for smoking tobacco tube, tubing - conduit consisting of a long hollow object (usually cylindrical) used to hold and conduct objects or liquids or gases
	5.	stem - front part of a vessel or aircraft; "he pointed the bow of the boat toward the finish line" fore, prow, bow front - the side that is seen or that goes first vessel, watercraft - a craft designed for water transportation
	6.	stem - a turn made in skiing; the back of one ski is forced outward and the other ski is brought parallel to it stem turn turning, turn - the act of changing or reversing the direction of the course; "he took a turn to the right"
Verb	1.	stem - grow out of, have roots in, originate in; "The increase in the national debt stems from the last war" originate in - come from
	2.	stem - cause to point inward; "stem your skis" orient - cause to point; "Orient the house towards the West"
	3.	stem - stop the flow of a liquid; "staunch the blood flow"; "stem the tide" stanch, staunch, halt check - arrest the motion (of something) abruptly; "He checked the flow of water by shutting off the main valve"
	4.	stem - remove the stem from; "for automatic natural language processing, the words must be stemmed" remove, take away, withdraw, take - remove something concrete, as by lifting, pushing, or taking off, or remove something abstract; "remove a threat"; "remove a wrapper"; "Remove the dirty dishes from the table"; "take the gun from your pocket"; "This machine withdraws heat from the environment"

stem ¹

noun stalk, branch, trunk, shoot, stock, axis, peduncle

stem from something originate from, be caused by, derive from, arise from, flow from, emanate from, develop from, be generated by, be brought about by, be bred by, issue forth from

stem ²

verb stop, hold back, staunch, stay (archaic) check, contain, dam, curb, restrain, bring to a standstill, stanch

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