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(), Steem ()}, v. i.To gleam. [Obs.] His head bald, that shone as any glass, . . . [And] stemed as a furnace of a leed [caldron]. Chaucer. Stem Steem}, n.A gleam of light; flame. [Obs.] Stem (stm), n.[AS. stemn, stefn, stfn; 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. 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. The lowering spring, with lavish rain, Beats down the slender stem and breaded grain. Dryden. 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. 3. The stock of a family; a race or generation of progenitors. "All that are of noble stem." Milton. While I do pray, learn here thy stem And true descent. Herbert. 4. A branch of a family. This is a stem Of that 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. 2. To ram, as clay, into a blasting hole. 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. [They] stem the flood with their erected breasts. Denham. Stemmed the wild torrent of a barbarous age. Pope. Stem v. i.To move forward against an obstacle, as a vessel against a current. Stemming nightly toward the pole. Milton. スポンサード リンク
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