stem
verb/stem/
/stem/
Verb Forms
Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they stem | /stem/ /stem/ |
| he / she / it stems | /stemz/ /stemz/ |
| past simple stemmed | /stemd/ /stemd/ |
| past participle stemmed | /stemd/ /stemd/ |
| -ing form stemming | /ˈstemɪŋ/ /ˈstemɪŋ/ |
- stem something to stop something that is flowing from spreading or increasing
- The cut was bandaged to stem the bleeding.
- They discussed ways of stemming the flow of smuggled drugs.
- The government had failed to stem the tide of factory closures.
- The reforms failed to stem social discontent.
Word Originstem from something. Old English stemn, stefn, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch stam and German Stamm. Sense (4) is related to Dutch steven, German Steven. verb Middle English (in the sense ‘to stop, delay’): from Old Norse stemma, of Germanic origin.Definitions on the go
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stem