8  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Stem  \Stem\,  Steem  \Steem\,  v.  i. 
  To  gleam.  [Obs.] 
 
  His  head  bald,  that  shone  as  any  glass,  .  .  .  [And] 
  stemed  as  a  furnace  of  a  leed  [caldron].  --Chaucer. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Stem  \Stem\,  v.  i. 
  To  move  forward  against  an  obstacle,  as  a  vessel  against  a 
  current. 
 
  Stemming  nightly  toward  the  pole.  --Milton. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Stem  \Stem\,  Steem  \Steem\,  n. 
  A  gleam  of  light;  flame.  [Obs.] 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Stem  \Stem\,  n.  [AS.  stemn,  stefn,  st[ae]fn;  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.  (Zo["o]l.) 
  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. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Stem  \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. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Stem  \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. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  stem 
  n  1:  (linguistics)  the  form  of  a  word  after  all  affixes  are 
  removed;  "thematic  vowels  are  part  of  the  stem"  [syn:  {root}, 
  {root  word},  {base},  {theme},  {radical}] 
  2:  a  slender  or  elongated  structure  that  supports  a  plant  or 
  fungus  or  a  plant  part  or  plant  organ  [syn:  {stalk}] 
  3:  the  long  narrow  part  of  something  [syn:  {shank}] 
  4:  the  tube  of  a  tobacco  pipe 
  5:  front  part  of  a  vessel  or  aircraft;  "he  pointed  the  bow  of 
  the  boat  toward  the  finish  line"  [syn:  {bow},  {fore},  {prow}] 
  v  1:  grow  out  of  have  roots  in  originate  in  "The  increase  in 
  the  national  debt  stems  from  the  last  war" 
  2:  as  of  the  flow  of  a  liquid  flowing,  such  as  blood  from  a 
  wound  [syn:  {stanch},  {staunch},  {halt}] 
 
  From  U.S.  Gazetteer  (1990)  [gazetteer]: 
 
  Stem,  NC  (town,  FIPS  64940) 
  Location:  36.19981  N,  78.72323  W 
  Population  (1990):  249  (111  housing  units) 
  Area:  2.4  sq  km  (land),  0.0  sq  km  (water) 
  Zip  code(s):  27581 

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