# stem

Pronunciation: say "STEM" /stɛm/

## Noun

1. The main stalk of a plant above ground, or a slender stalk joining a leaf, flower, or fruit to it; in botany also underground parts such as rhizomes, bulbs, and tubers.
   - Simple: The long thin part of a plant growing from the roots, or the small stalk holding a leaf, flower, or fruit.
   - _She trimmed the stems of the roses before putting them in a vase._
   - _Hold the flower by its stem so you don't crush the petals._
5. The long, slender part of certain objects, such as the stalk joining a wine glass's bowl to its foot, the tube of a tobacco pipe, or a spoon's handle.
   - Simple: The thin part of some objects, like a wine glass, a pipe, or a spoon.
   - _He clamped the stem of his briar pipe between his teeth and struck a match._
   - _Glasses with long stems keep warm fingers away from chilled white wine._
6. The main part of a word, without inflections, to which affixes are added to form its inflected forms; it often contains a more basic root.
   - Simple: The main part of a word that endings are added to, to make its other forms.
   - _To form the past tense, add -ed to the stem, so that walk becomes walked._
   - _Third-declension Latin nouns often hide their stem in the nominative, so students learn the genitive to find it._
7. The part of a bicycle that connects the handlebars to the fork.
   - Simple: The part of a bike that joins the handlebars to the fork that holds the front wheel.
   - _A shorter stem brings the handlebars closer to the rider and quickens the steering._
   - _The mechanic loosened the stem bolts and lined the handlebars up with the front wheel._
9. A premixed portion of a recorded track, one of several pieces a mix is split into for audio mastering and remixing.
   - Simple: A part of a song that is already mixed and kept separate, so it can be changed or remixed.
   - _The engineer boosted the drum stem slightly before mastering the album._
   - _Mastering from stems gave her more control than working from a single stereo mix._
10. A part of an anatomical structure considered by itself, apart from any branches it may have.
   - Simple: A part of the body seen on its own, without the smaller parts that branch off it.
   - _The tumor pressed on the stem of the nerve just before it divided._
   - _The scan showed a narrowing in the stem of the left bronchus, above its first branches._
11. A vertical line attached to the head of a written note in music, marking how long the note lasts.
   - Simple: The thin up-and-down line on a written music note that shows how long to play it.
   - _Each eighth note in the bar was drawn with a stem and a single flag._
   - _The copyist added a stem to each open note head, turning the whole notes into half notes._
12. A vertical stroke that forms part of a letter in type or lettering.
   - Simple: A straight up-and-down line that is part of a letter.
   - _The designer narrowed the stem of the lowercase l so it would not look heavier than its neighbors._
   - _In a serif typeface, small strokes finish the ends of each stem._
13. The part that is turned to wind a clock, watch, or similar mechanism. *(US)*
   - Simple: The part you turn to wind a watch or clock.
   - _The stem had snapped off, so the old pocket watch hadn't been wound in weeks._
   - _Give the stem a few turns before bed and the watch will run through the next day._
16. The front part of a ship or boat. Specifically, the upright beam at the bow, rising from the keel, to which the front ends of the hull planks are fastened.
   - Simple: The front end of a ship or boat, or the upright beam at the front that the sides are joined to.
   - _Customs officers searched the freighter from stem to stern but found nothing._
   - _A heavy wave struck the stem and threw spray across the deck._
18. A pipe used for smoking crack cocaine, or the long, hollow tube of a similar pipe, such as one used for methamphetamine. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A pipe used to smoke the drug crack, or the long tube of a pipe like it.
   - _Officers found a glass stem tucked behind the car's sun visor._
   - _Outreach workers hand out clean stems to cut the spread of disease among people who smoke crack._
19. A person's leg, usually in the plural. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A person's leg, usually said as stems for both legs.
   - _She stretched her tanned stems across the deck chair and closed her eyes._
   - _The basketball player's skinny stems made his sneakers look enormous._
20. The line of ancestors from which a family descends, or one branch of a family's line of descent.
   - Simple: A family's line of ancestors, or one branch of a family.
   - _Genealogists traced the family's stem to a Norman knight who settled in Kent._
   - _For centuries the main stem of the family stayed on the farm while younger branches moved west._

## Verb

2. To come from a particular source, originate in it, or be caused by it. Of a person or family, to be descended from an ancestor or line. Usually followed by 'from'.
   - Simple: To come from or be caused by something. Also, to be descended from a family or ancestor.
   - _Most complaints stem from shipping delays rather than from the products themselves._
   - _The dispute stemmed from a misunderstanding over the terms of the lease._
4. To stop or hold back something, such as the flow of a river or of blood.
   - Simple: To stop something from flowing, or slow it down, like a river or blood.
   - _The nurse pressed a folded towel against the wound to stem the bleeding._
   - _The new rules did little to stem the flow of money out of the country._
8. To remove the stem from something, such as fruit or leaves.
   - Simple: To take the stem off something, like a cherry or a leaf.
   - _Stem the grapes and throw away any that are bruised._
   - _The cooks stemmed two crates of kale before the lunch rush._
14. In skiing, to push the feet apart and angle the tips of the skis inward, either to slow down or to help start a turn.
   - Simple: In skiing, to spread your feet and point the front of your skis inward to slow down or turn.
   - _Instructors teach beginners to stem into each turn before they learn to keep their skis parallel._
   - _Halfway down the icy pitch, he stemmed sharply to scrub off speed._
15. In rock climbing, to take a wide stance, pressing the feet in opposite directions against the two walls of a chimney or dihedral.
   - Simple: In rock climbing, to spread your legs wide and push each foot against a different wall of rock.
   - _In the chimney you can stem between the walls and shake out your arms._
   - _He stemmed across the open corner, one foot on each face, to reach the crack._
17. To head a ship into something, bow first, or to make headway against it.
   - Simple: To point a ship's front into something, or to move forward against it.
   - _The little steamer stemmed the current all morning, gaining barely a mile an hour._
   - _Turn the bow to stem the swell, or the next wave will catch us broadside._

## Noun · STEM

3. Short for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics: these fields taken together as an area of study, teaching, or work.
   - Simple: Short for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, as one group of school subjects and jobs.
   - _She left a career in law to retrain in STEM._
   - _The district hired three new teachers to strengthen its STEM program._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A lineage, or group of lineages, lying outside a family or other clade yet more closely related to that group than to any other taxon of equal rank.
- (noun) The penis.
- (noun) Short for scanning transmission electron microscope: a microscope that scans thin samples with electrons and can show single atoms.
- (verb) To ram clay or similar material into a blasting hole.
- (noun) A leading or commanding position, or the place from which a lookout keeps watch.
- (verb) To strike another vessel or object with the bow of a ship.
- (noun) Another spelling of steem, a gleam of light or a flame.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–2, 5–13, 16–20** — The word goes back ultimately to Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- ("to stand, stay"), which led to Proto-Germanic *stamniz and Proto-West Germanic *stamni. These gave Old English stemn, which appeared in Middle English as stem, stemme, stempne, or stevin.
**Meanings 4, 14–15** — From Middle English stemmen, borrowed from Old Norse stemma ("to stop, stem, dam"), from Proto-Germanic *stammijaną; compare Danish stemme/stæmme ("to stem, dam up"). It is cognate with German stemmen and Middle Dutch stemmen, stempen; compare stammer.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/stem (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).