Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - stem

~1 n 1 the long thin central part of a plant above the ground or the smaller parts that grow from it, from which leaves grow; stalk1 (1) 2 the long thin part of a wine glass; vase etc, between the base and the wide top 3 the narrow tube of a pipe used to smoke tobacco 4 the part of a word that stays the same when different endings are added to it, for example `driv-' in `driving' and `driven' 5 from stem to stern all the way from the front to the back, especially of a ship ~2 v stemmed, stemming 1 stem the tide/flow of to stop something from spreading or developing  (The public apology was intended to stem the tide of complaints from viewers.) 2 formal to stop the flow of a liquid  (stem the bleeding) 3 long-stemmed/short-stemmed etc having a long stem, a short stem etc  (long-stemmed wine glasses) stem from sth phr v to develop as a result of something else  (Most of the difficulties stemmed from poor workmanship.)