FluentPlex

stem

/stɛm/ verb C2
  1. To stop, hinder (for instance, a river or blood). (transitive) · to stem a tide
  2. To move the feet apart and point the tips of the skis inward in order to slow down the speed or to facilitate a turn.
  3. To use a stance with the feet spread apart, bracing them in opposite directions against the two walls of a chimney or dihedral.

He/she/it stems · Past stemmed · Past participle stemmed · -ing form stemming

+ Save to review

Verb forms

Base form
stem
He/she/it
stems
Past
stemmed
Past participle
stemmed
-ing form
stemming

From the library

Determined to keep as far apart as possible, the one seated himself in the stem, and the other in the prow of the ship.
Three Hundred Aesop's Fables, p. 82 · B2
If no cruel hand pluck me from my stem, yet I must perish by an early doom.
Three Hundred Aesop's Fables, p. 93 · B2
Between these sickly shrubs grew a scanty supply of garlic, tomatoes, and eschalots; while, lone and solitary, like a forgotten sentinel, a tall pine raised its melancholy head in one of the corners of this unattractive spot, and displayed its flexible stem and fan-shaped summit dried and cracked by the fierce heat of the sub-tropical sun.
The Count of Monte Cristo, p. 277 · C1
After the cachucha he placed a magnificent ring on the stem of a bouquet, and threw it to the charming danseuse, who, in the third act, to do honor to the gift, reappeared with it on her finger.
The Count of Monte Cristo, p. 722 · C1

Other matches

Learn stem in real texts

With a free account, hover any word in the library for its meaning, hear it read aloud, save words for review timed to your memory, and see how much of each book you already know.

Create free account
Words, meanings, pronunciations and translations from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); how common each word is from wordfreq. Made into this dictionary by FluentPlex.