Stem , v. i. To move forward against an obstacle, as a vessel against a current.
Stemming nightly toward the pole.
Milton.
Stem , v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stemmed (?);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Stemming.]
[Either from stem, n., or akin to stammer; cf. G. stemmen to press against.] 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."
Shak.
[They] stem the flood with their erected breasts.
Denham.
Stemmed the wild torrent of a barbarous age.
Pope.
Stem , v. t. 1. To
remove the stem or stems from; as, to
stem cherries; to remove the stem and its
appendages (ribs and veins) from; as, to
stem tobacco leaves.
2. To ram, as clay, into a blasting hole.
Stem (st&ebreve;m), n. [AS. stemn,
stefn, stæfn; akin to OS.
stamn the stem of a ship, D. stam stem, steven stem of a ship, G. stamm stem, steven stem of a ship, Icel.
stafn, stamn, stem of a ship,
stofn, stomn, stem, Sw. stam a tree trunk,
Dan. stamme. Cf. Staff, Stand.]
1. The principal body of a tree, shrub, or plant, of any
kind; the main stock; the part which supports the branches or the head or top.
After they are shot up thirty feet in length, they spread a
very large top, having no bough nor
twig in the
trunk or the stem.
Sir W. Raleigh.
The lowering
spring, with lavish rain,
Beats down the slender stem and breaded grain.
Dryden.
2. A little branch which connects a fruit, flower, or leaf with
a main branch; a peduncle, pedicel, or petiole; as, the stem of an
apple or a cherry.
3. The stock of
a family; a
race or generation of
progenitors. "All that are of noble
stem." Milton.
While I do pray, learn here thy stem
And true descent.
Herbert. 4. A branch of a family.
This is a stem
Of that victorious stock.
Shak.
5. (Naut.) A curved piece of timber to which the two
sides of a ship are united at the
fore end. The lower end
of it is
scarfed to the keel, and the
bowsprit rests upon its upper end. Hence, the forward part of a vessel; the bow.
6. Fig.: An advanced or leading position; the lookout.
Wolsey sat at the stem more than twenty years.
Fuller. 7. Anything resembling a stem or stalk; as, the
stem of a tobacco pipe; the stem of a watch case, or that part
to which the ring, by which it is
suspended, is attached.
8.
(Bot.) That part of a plant which bears leaves, or rudiments of leaves, whether rising above ground or wholly subterranean.
9.
(Zoöl.) (a) The entire central axis of a feather. (b)
The basal portion of the body of one of the Pennatulacea, or of a gorgonian.
10. (Mus.) The short perpendicular line added to the body of a note; the tail of a crotchet, quaver, semiquaver, etc.
11.
(Gram.) The part of an inflected word which remains unchanged (except
by euphonic variations) throughout a given inflection; theme; base.
From stem to
stern (Naut.), from one end
of the ship
to the other, or through the whole length. -- Stem leaf (Bot.), a leaf growing from the stem of a plant, as
contrasted with a basal or radical leaf.
{ Stem , Steem }, n. A gleam of light; flame.
[Obs.]
{ Stem (?), Steem (?) },
v. i. To gleam. [Obs.]
His head bald, that shone as any
glass, . . .
[And]
stemed as a furnace of a
leed [caldron].
Chaucer.
Hear it pronounced