stem definition

1. the tube of a tobacco pipe
2. a turn made in skiing; the back of one ski is forced outward and the other ski is brought parallel to it
3. grow out of, have roots in, originate in
• examples: The increase in the national debt stems from the last war
4. cause to point inward
• examples: stem your skis
5. stop the flow of a liquid
• examples: staunch the blood flow
• examples: stem the tide
6. remove the stem from
• examples: for automatic natural language processing, the words must be stemmed