Dictionary definition · stem
noun
- (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed"thematic vowels are part of the stem"
- a slender or elongated structure that supports a plant or fungus or a plant part or plant organ
- cylinder forming a long narrow part of something
- the tube of a tobacco pipe
- front part of a vessel or aircraft"he pointed the bow of the boat toward the finish line"
- a turn made in skiing; the back of one ski is forced outward and the other ski is brought parallel to it
verb
- grow out of, have roots in, originate in"The increase in the national debt stems from the last war"
- cause to point inward"stem your skis"
- stop the flow of a liquid"staunch the blood flow"
- remove the stem from"for automatic natural language processing, the words must be stemmed"
Source: Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0).