Search results for 'stem':

stem¹ noun 1 a the central part of a plant that grows upward from its root; b the part that connects a leaf, flower or fruit to a branch. 2 any long slender part, eg of a written letter or musical note, of a wine glass or pipe, of the winder of a watch, etc. 3 linguistics the base form of a word that inflections are added to; for example love is the stem of loved, lover, lovely, unloved, etc and of luvvie, despite the distortion of the spelling. See also root¹. 4 genealogy the major branch of a family. 5 naut the front part of a ship or the curved timber at a ship's prow. verb (stemmed, stemming) intrans 1 (stem from something or someone) to originate or derive from it or them • Resentment stems from their low wages and long hours. 2 to remove the stems from (fruit, etc). 3 said of a boat, swimmer, bird, etc: to make headway (through the water, air, etc). stemless adj. stemlet noun. stemmed adj. from stem to stern 1 from one end of a boat to the other. 2 completely.
ETYMOLOGY: Anglo-Saxon stemn.

stem² verb (stemmed, stemming) 1 to stop (the flow of something) • tried to stem the tide of Tory disaffection. 2 intrans, skiing to slow down by pushing the heels apart. noun (also stem turn) skiing a breaking technique where the heels are pushed apart.
ETYMOLOGY: 15c: from Norse stemma.