stem
stem Lexical Profile
stem Game Scores & Validity
• noun
The main structural axis or stalk of a plant, typically rising above ground and supporting leaves, flowers, or fruit.
"Carefully cut the stem of the rose at a forty-five-degree angle to help it absorb water."
The slender, upright part of an object, such as the elongated section of a wine glass, a musical note, or a tobacco pipe.
"She held the crystal goblet delicately by its long stem to avoid warming the white wine."
The base part of a word to which affixes are added to form new grammatical categories or inflections.
"In linguistics, adding the plural suffix '-s' to the stem 'cat' creates the word 'cats'."
• verb
To originate, arise, or be caused by something (typically followed by 'from').
"The team's failure to meet the deadline stems directly from a severe lack of communication."
To stop, restrict, or staunch the flow or spread of something.
"The central bank rapidly raised interest rates in a desperate attempt to stem rising inflation."
To remove the stalk or stem from a fruit or vegetable during culinary preparation.
"She carefully stemmed and pitted all the cherries before folding them into the pie dough."
Word Nuance & Usage
The verb 'stem' has two opposing, often confusing applications due to different etymological roots: 'stemming from' means to originate or flow out of something, whereas 'stemming the tide' means to stop, restrict, or staunch a flow.
• Rhymes for stem
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
The noun meaning 'plant stalk' derives from Old English 'stemn', from Proto-Germanic '*stamniz'. The verb meaning 'to stop or staunch' has a completely different origin, coming from Old Norse 'stemma'.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.