stem in WordNet English dictionary

1. (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed
   "thematic vowels are part of the stem"
   root  root word  base  stem  theme  radical 
   
2. front part of a vessel or aircraft
   "he pointed the bow of the boat toward the finish line"
   bow  fore  prow  stem 
   
3. cylinder forming a long narrow part of something
   shank  stem 
   
4. a slender or elongated structure that supports a plant or fungus or a plant part or plant organ
   stalk  stem 
   
5. a turn made in skiing; the back of one ski is forced outward and the other ski is brought parallel to it
   stem turn  stem 
   
6. the tube of a tobacco pipe
   stem 
   

1. stop the flow of a liquid
   "staunch the blood flow"; "stem the tide"
   stem  stanch  staunch  halt 
   
2. remove the stem from
   "for automatic natural language processing, the words must be stemmed"
   stem 
   
3. grow out of, have roots in, originate in
   "The increase in the national debt stems from the last war"
   stem 
   
4. cause to point inward
   "stem your skis"
   stem