Meaning & use
stem
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Meanings
nouncountablebiology
The main stalk of a plant that holds up leaves, flowers, or fruit and carries water and nutrients.
Grammar: Has a plural stems and can take an or the: a rose stem, the plant's stems.
Patterns
- plant stem
- stem of a plant
- cut the stem
Snap the stem from each strawberry before washing it.
Water travels up the stem to the leaves.
A thorn on the stem caught her glove.
verbtransitiveformal
To stop or slow the movement, growth, or spread of something unwanted.
Grammar: Takes an object: stem the flow. It is more formal than stop in news reports.
Patterns
- stem the flow
- stem the tide
- stem losses
Nurses worked quickly to stem the bleeding.
The company raised prices to stem losses.
New fences helped stem the spread of the weed.
verbintransitive
To come from a particular source, cause, or origin.
Grammar: Usually used as stem from, not with a direct object: problems stem from fear.
Patterns
- stem from something
- stem from a cause
- stem from misunderstanding
Many delays stem from poor planning.
Her confidence stems from years of practice.
The argument stemmed from a simple misunderstanding.
Word forms
| plural | stems |
|---|---|
| third person singular | stems |
| past tense | stemmed |
| past participle | stemmed |
| -ing form | stemming |
Common combinations
- stem cell
- Researchers study stem cells to understand how tissues repair themselves.
- stem from a lack of
- The errors stem from a lack of training rather than carelessness.
- stem the bleeding
- Apply pressure to stem the bleeding until help arrives.
Synonyms and how they differ
- stalk
- Stalk names the upright support of one plant or flower; stem is broader and also used in scientific contexts.
- check
- Check can mean restrain, but stem often suggests stopping a flow, loss, or tide of something.
- originate
- Originate is direct and neutral; stem from points back to a source and is common with problems and feelings.
Opposites
Word family
- stemmed adjective
- Having a stem, often in compounds like long-stemmed.
- stemless adjective
- Without a stem.
Commonly confused: stem or stern?
stem vs stern
Stern means strict or the back of a boat; stem means a plant stalk or to stop a flow.
Practice
Choose the best completion: 'The complaint ____ a billing error.'
Choose one answer.
With a source we use the intransitive pattern stems from. 'Stems the' needs an object such as 'stems the losses,' and the plural 'stem from' does not match the singular subject.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “stem”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.