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stem

   Also found in: Medical, Acronyms, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.04 sec.
stem 1  (stm)
n.
1.
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  (stm)
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
Noun1.stem - (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed; "thematic vowels are part of the stem"
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
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
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.stemstem - front part of a vessel or aircraft; "he pointed the bow of the boat toward the finish line"
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
turning, turn - the act of changing or reversing the direction of the course; "he took a turn to the right"
Verb1.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"
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
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
Translations
Spanish stem [stɛm] n [of plant] → tallo; [of glass] → pie m [of pipe] → cañón m
vtdetener [+ blood]; restañar
stem from vt fusser consecuencia de

French stem [stɛm] n [of plant] → tige f [of leaf, fruit]; queue f [of glass]; pied m
vtcontenir, endiguer [+ attack, spread of disease]; juguler
stem from vt fusprovenir de, découler de

German stem [stɛm] nStiel m;
(of pipe) → Hals m
vtaufhalten;
(flow) → eindämmen;
(bleeding) → zum Stillstand bringen
stem from stem vt fuszurückgehen auf +acc

Italian stem [stɛm] n [of flower, plant] → stelo; [of tree] → fusto; [of glass] → gambo; [of fruit, leaf] → picciolo
stem from vt fusprovenire da, derivare da

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If no cruel hand pluck me from my stem, yet I must perish by an early doom.
What a weird sensation it is to feel the stem of a ship sinking swiftly from under you and see the bow climbing high away among the clouds
Each carried a strange banner swung from stem to stern above the upper works, and upon the prow of each was painted some odd device that gleamed in the sunlight and showed plainly even at the distance at which we were from the vessels.
 
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