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20 dictionary results for: Stem

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

stem1

[stem] Pronunciation Key, noun, verb, stemmed, stem·ming.

–noun

1.	the ascending axis of a plant, whether above or below ground, which ordinarily grows in an opposite direction to the root or descending axis.

2.	the stalk that supports a leaf, flower, or fruit.

3.	the main body of that portion of a tree, shrub, or other plant which is above ground; trunk; stalk.

4.	a cut flower: We bought roses at the flower market for 50¢ a stem.

5.	a petiole; peduncle; pedicel.

6.	a stalk of bananas.

7.	something resembling or suggesting a leaf or flower stalk.

8.	a long, slender part: the stem of a tobacco pipe.

9.	the slender, vertical part of a goblet, wineglass, etc., between the bowl and the base.

10.	Informal. a drinking glass having a stem.

11.	the handle of a spoon.

12.	a projection from the rim of a watch, having on its end a knob for winding the watch.

13.	the circular rod in some locks about which the key fits and rotates.

14.	the rod or spindle by which a valve is operated from outside.

15.	the stock or line of descent of a family; ancestry or pedigree.

16.	Grammar. the underlying form, often consisting of a root plus an affix, to which the inflectional endings of a word are added, as tend-, the stem in Latin tendere “to stretch,” the root of which is ten-. Compare base¹ (def. 18), theme (def. 5).

17.	Music. the vertical line forming part of a note.

18.	stems, Slang. the legs of a human being.

19.	the main or relatively thick stroke of a letter in printing.

–verb (used with object)

20.	to remove the stem from (a leaf, fruit, etc.): Stem the cherries before cooking.

–verb (used without object)

21.	to arise or originate: This project stems from last week's lecture.

[Origin: bef. 900; ME; OE stemn, stefn, equiv. to ste- (var. of sta-, base of standan to stand) + -mn- suffix; akin to G Stamm stem, tribe; see staff¹

]

—Related forms

stemless, adjective

stemlike, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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stem2

[stem] Pronunciation Key verb, stemmed, stem·ming, noun

–verb (used with object)

1.	to stop, check, or restrain.

2.	to dam up; stop the flow of (a stream, river, or the like).

3.	to tamp, plug, or make tight, as a hole or joint.

4.	Skiing. to maneuver (a ski or skis) in executing a stem.

5.	to stanch (bleeding).

–verb (used without object)

6.	Skiing. to execute a stem.

–noun

7.	Skiing. the act or instance of a skier pushing the heel of one or both skis outward so that the heels are far apart, as in making certain turns or slowing down.

[Origin: 1400–50; late ME stemmen < ON stemma to dam or MLG stemmen

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
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stem3

[stem] Pronunciation Key,

–verb (used with object), stemmed, stem·ming.

1.	to make headway against (a tide, current, gale, etc.).

2.	to make progress against (any opposition).

[Origin: 1585–95; v. use of stem⁴

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
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stem4

[stem] Pronunciation Key,

–noun Nautical.

1.	(at the bow of a vessel) an upright into which the side timbers or plates are jointed.

2.	the forward part of a vessel (often opposed to stern).

[Origin: bef. 900; continuing OE stefn, stemn end-timber; special use of stem¹; ME stampne, stamyn(e) appar. < the c. ON stamn, stafn in same sense

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
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stem5

[stem] Pronunciation Key,

–verb (used with object), stemmed, stem·ming.

to arrange the loading of (a merchant vessel) within a specified time.

[Origin: 1895–1900; var. of steven to direct one's course < ON stefna to sail directly, aim, deriv. of stafn stem⁴

]

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

stem¹ (stěm) Pronunciation Key
n.

1. The main ascending axis of a plant; a stalk or trunk.
2. A slender stalk supporting or connecting another plant part, such as a leaf or flower.
3. The tube of a tobacco pipe.
4. The slender upright support of a wineglass or goblet.
5. The small projecting shaft with an expanded crown by which a watch is wound.
6. The rounded rod in the center of certain locks about which the key fits and is turned.
7. The shaft of a feather or hair.
8. The upright stroke of a typeface or letter.
9. Music The vertical line extending from the head of a note.
A banana stalk bearing several bunches of bananas.
A connecting or supporting part, especially:
1. The tube of a tobacco pipe.
2. The slender upright support of a wineglass or goblet.
3. The small projecting shaft with an expanded crown by which a watch is wound.
4. The rounded rod in the center of certain locks about which the key fits and is turned.
5. The shaft of a feather or hair.
6. The upright stroke of a typeface or letter.
7. Music The vertical line extending from the head of a note.
The main line of descent of a family.
Linguistics The main part of a word to which affixes are added.
Nautical The curved upright beam at the fore of a vessel into which the hull timbers are scarfed to form the prow.
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.

To remove the stem of.
To provide with a stem.
To make headway against: managed to stem the rebellion.

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

Synonyms: 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.

(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

stem²   (stěm) Pronunciation Key
v.   stemmed, stem·ming, stems

v.   tr.

To stop or hold back by or as if by damming; stanch.
To plug or tamp (a blast hole, for example).
Sports To point (skis) inward.

v. intr. Sports
To point skis inward in order to slow down or turn.

[Middle English stemmen, from Old Norse stemma.]

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
stem (n.)

O.E. stemn, stefn "stem of a plant," also "either end-post of a ship," from P.Gmc. *stamniz (cf. O.S. stamm, O.N. stafn "stem of a ship;" Dan. stamme, Swed. stam "trunk of a tree;" O.H.G. stam, Ger. Stamm), from PIE base *sta- "to stand" (see stet). Meaning "support of a wineglass" is from 1835. Stem-winding watches (1875) were advanced and desirable when introduced, hence slang stem-winder "excellent thing" (1892). The nautical sense is preserved in the phrase stem to stern "along the full length" (of a ship), attested from 1627. The verbal phrase stems from, first recorded 1932, Amer.Eng., translates Ger. stammen aus, probably from a fig. sense represented by Eng. stem (n.) in the sense of "stock of a family, line of descent" (c.1540; cf. family tree, and Ger. stammvater "tribal ancestor," lit. "stem-father").

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
stem (v.)

"to hold back," c.1300, from O.N. stemma "to stop," from P.Gmc. *stamjan (cf. Swed. stämma, O.S. stemmian, M.Du. stemon, Ger. stemmen "stop, resist, oppose"), from PIE base *stem- "to strike against something" (cf. Lith. stumiu "thrust, push"). Phrase to stem the tide is lit. "to hold back the tide," but often is confused with stem (v.) in sense of "to make headway against, head in a certain course" (1375), which is from stem (n.)).

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

stem
noun
1.	(linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed; "thematic vowels are part of the stem" [syn: root]
2.	a slender or elongated structure that supports a plant or fungus or a plant part or plant organ [syn: stalk]
3.	cylinder forming a long narrow part of something [syn: shank]
4.	the tube of a tobacco pipe
5.	front part of a vessel or aircraft; "he pointed the bow of the boat toward the finish line" [syn: bow]
6.	a turn made in skiing; the back of one ski is forced outward and the other ski is brought parallel to it [syn: stem turn]
verb
1.	grow out of, have roots in, originate in; "The increase in the national debt stems from the last war"
2.	cause to point inward; "stem your skis"
3.	stop the flow of a liquid; "staunch the blood flow"; "stem the tide"
4.	remove the stem from; "for automatic natural language processing, the words must be stemmed"

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American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This

stem

In addition to the idiom beginning with stem, also see from soup to nuts (stem to stern).

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

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The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

stem (stěm) Pronunciation Key

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

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American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

stem (stěm)
n.
A supporting structure resembling the stalk of a plant.

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U.S. Gazetteer - Cite This Source - Share This

Stem, NC (town, FIPS 64940) Location: 36.19981 N, 78.72323 W
Population (1990): 249 (111 housing units)
Area: 2.4 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 27581

U.S. Gazetteer, U.S. Census Bureau

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Stem

Stem\, Steem \Steem\, v. i. To gleam. [Obs.]

His head bald, that shone as any glass, . . . [And] stemed as a furnace of a leed [caldron]. --Chaucer.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Stem

Stem\, Steem \Steem\, n. A gleam of light; flame. [Obs.]

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Stem

Stem\, n. [AS. stemn, stefn, st[ae]fn; akin to OS. stamn the stem of a ship, D. stam stem, steven stem of a ship, G. stamm stem, steven stem of a ship, Icel. stafn, stamn, stem of a ship, stofn, stomn, stem, Sw. stam a tree trunk, Dan. stamme. Cf. Staff, Stand.]

1. The principal body of a tree, shrub, or plant, of any kind; the main stock; the part which supports the branches or the head or top.

After they are shot up thirty feet in length, they spread a very large top, having no bough nor twig in the trunk or the stem. --Sir W. Raleigh.

The lowering spring, with lavish rain, Beats down the slender stem and breaded grain. --Dryden.

2. A little branch which connects a fruit, flower, or leaf with a main branch; a peduncle, pedicel, or petiole; as, the stem of an apple or a cherry.

3. The stock of a family; a race or generation of progenitors. "All that are of noble stem." --Milton.

While I do pray, learn here thy stem And true descent. --Herbert.

4. A branch of a family.

This is a stem Of that victorious stock. --Shak.

5. (Naut.) A curved piece of timber to which the two sides of a ship are united at the fore end. The lower end of it is scarfed to the keel, and the bowsprit rests upon its upper end. Hence, the forward part of a vessel; the bow.

6. Fig.: An advanced or leading position; the lookout.

Wolsey sat at the stem more than twenty years. --Fuller.

7. Anything resembling a stem or stalk; as, the stem of a tobacco pipe; the stem of a watch case, or that part to which the ring, by which it is suspended, is attached.

8. (Bot.) That part of a plant which bears leaves, or rudiments of leaves, whether rising above ground or wholly subterranean.

9. (Zo["o]l.) (a) The entire central axis of a feather. (b) The basal portion of the body of one of the Pennatulacea, or of a gorgonian.

10. (Mus.) The short perpendicular line added to the body of a note; the tail of a crotchet, quaver, semiquaver, etc.

11. (Gram.) The part of an inflected word which remains unchanged (except by euphonic variations) throughout a given inflection; theme; base.

From stem to stern (Naut.), from one end of the ship to the other, or through the whole length.

Stem leaf (Bot.), a leaf growing from the stem of a plant, as contrasted with a basal or radical leaf.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Stem

Stem\, v. t. 1. To remove the stem or stems from; as, to stem cherries; to remove the stem and its appendages (ribs and veins) from; as, to stem tobacco leaves.

2. To ram, as clay, into a blasting hole.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Stem

Stem\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stemmed; p. pr. & vb. n. Stemming.] [Either from stem, n., or akin to stammer; cf. G. stemmen to press against.] To oppose or cut with, or as with, the stem of a vessel; to resist, or make progress against; to stop or check the flow of, as a current. "An argosy to stem the waves." --Shak.

[They] stem the flood with their erected breasts. --Denham.

Stemmed the wild torrent of a barbarous age. --Pope.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Stem

Stem\, v. i. To move forward against an obstacle, as a vessel against a current.

Stemming nightly toward the pole. --Milton.

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