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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Stem \Stem\, Steem \Steem\, v. i.
To gleam. [Obs.]
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His head bald, that shone as any glass, . . .
[And] stemed as a furnace of a leed [caldron].
--Chaucer.
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Stem \Stem\, Steem \Steem\, n.
A gleam of light; flame. [Obs.]
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Stem \Stem\ (st[e^]m), n. [AS. stemn, stefn, staefn; 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.
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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.
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The lowering spring, with lavish rain,
Beats down the slender stem and breaded grain.
--Dryden.
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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.
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3. The stock of a family; a race or generation of
progenitors. "All that are of noble stem." --Milton.
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While I do pray, learn here thy stem
And true descent. --Herbert.
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4. A branch of a family.
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This is a stem
Of that victorious stock. --Shak.
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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.
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6. Fig.: An advanced or leading position; the lookout.
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Wolsey sat at the stem more than twenty years.
--Fuller.
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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.
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8. (Bot.) That part of a plant which bears leaves, or
rudiments of leaves, whether rising above ground or wholly
subterranean.
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9. (Zool.)
(a) The entire central axis of a feather.
(b) The basal portion of the body of one of the
Pennatulacea, or of a gorgonian.
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10. (Mus.) The short perpendicular line added to the body of
a note; the tail of a crotchet, quaver, semiquaver, etc.
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11. (Gram.) The part of an inflected word which remains
unchanged (except by euphonic variations) throughout a
given inflection; theme; base.
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{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.
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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.
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2. To ram, as clay, into a blasting hole.
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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.
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[They] stem the flood with their erected breasts.
--Denham.
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Stemmed the wild torrent of a barbarous age. --Pope.
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Stem \Stem\, v. i.
To move forward against an obstacle, as a vessel against a
current.
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Stemming nightly toward the pole. --Milton.
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