Bestem

verb

verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To stem completely; stem all about; hinder. archaic, transitive

    "Whence she might overglance the boundless boiling of billows, / Then she would rush to bestem the salt-plain's quivering wavelet / And from her ankles bare the dainty garment uplifting, / Spake she these words […]"

Example

More examples

"Whence she might overglance the boundless boiling of billows, / Then she would rush to bestem the salt-plain's quivering wavelet / And from her ankles bare the dainty garment uplifting, / Spake she these words […]"

Etymology

From be- + stem.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.