Stem, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stemmed p. pr. & vb. n. Stemming.] 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.”
[They] stem the flood with their erected breasts. --Denham.
Stemmed the wild torrent of a barbarous age. --Pope.
stem
n 1: (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are
removed; "thematic vowels are part of the stem" [syn: root,
root word, base, theme, radical]
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, fore, prow]
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]
v 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"; "them
the tide" [syn: stanch, staunch, halt]
4: remove the stem from; "for automatic natural language
processing, the words must be stemmed"
[also: stemming, stemmed]
stemmed
adj 1: having a stem or stems or having a stem as specified; often
used in combination; "stemmed goblets"; "long-stemmed
roses" [ant: stemless]
2: producing a well-developed stem above ground [syn: caulescent,
cauline] [ant: acaulescent]
3: having the stem removed; "stemmed berries"