Definitions for stem

• Definition
• Anagrams (34)

stem stem

Spelling: [stem]

IPA: /stɛm/

Stem is a 4 letter English word. It's valid Scrabble word worth 6 points. It's valid Words with friends word worth 7 points.

You can make 34 anagrams from letters in stem (emst).

Definitions for stem

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:
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:
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.
20. 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.
21. (at the bow of a vessel) an upright into which the side timbers or plates are jointed.
22. the forward part of a vessel (often opposed to stern).
23. science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, considered as a group of academic or career fields (often used attributively):

verb (used with object)

1. to remove the stem from (a leaf, fruit, etc.):
2. to stop, check, or restrain.
3. to dam up; stop the flow of (a stream, river, or the like).
4. to tamp, plug, or make tight, as a hole or joint.
5. Skiing. to maneuver (a ski or skis) in executing a stem.
6. to stanch (bleeding).
7. to make headway against (a tide, current, gale, etc.).
8. to make progress against (any opposition).
9. to arrange the loading of (a merchant vessel) within a specified time.

verb (used without object)

1. to arise or originate:
2. Skiing. to execute a stem.

Origin of stem

before 900; Middle English; Old English stemn, stefn, equivalent to ste- (variant of sta-, base of standan to stand) + -mn- suffix; akin to German Stamm stem, tribe;

Examples for stem

There is one stream which I dread my inability to stem—it is the tide of Popular Opinion.

Food dislikes often stem from childhood, or are linked to unpleasant past experiences.

We might start by trying to stem the sale of arms to those who are perpetrating the violence in the first place.

Then one after the other the two tenders puffed away, packed from stem to stern.

In his excitement the dominie had snapped the stem of his tobacco pipe in two.

Republican legislatures are looking for any way to stem the tide, and religious exemptions are one way to do that.

And the pick was only the stem of a kau-ling plant, to which a bit of brick had been fastened.

In part, it may stem from what looks like an increasingly “political” Court.

In fact, in 2013 women made up less than a quarter of all full-time professors in stem fields.

Let us rejoice that one such partisan was now at hand to stem the torrent of abuse.