stems

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of stem.

   The gardener cut the rose stems at an angle so they would draw up more water.

   Thick green stems anchored the lily pads to the muddy bottom of the pond.

   Note

   One plural serves every noun meaning of stem, and not all of them are botanical. A family can have several stems, its branches. In cladistics a stem is a branch just outside a group, and a feather's shaft is its stem. To a botanist, stems include underground organs too: rhizomes, bulbs, tubers and corms. The same spelling is also the verb form (the trouble stems from…), and its place in the sentence tells the two apart.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of stem.

   Much of the confusion stems from a single mistranslated clause in the contract.

   The old ferry slowly stems the current on its way upriver.

   Note

   The form a singular subject takes. In its "originate" meaning it pairs with from: a problem stems from a mistake, a habit stems from childhood. The same form also covers very different actions. A boat stems the tide, a blaster stems clay into a drill hole, and a cook stems cherries. One meaning, to ram with a ship's stem, is obsolete, so do not use the word to mean "rams."

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