English · Idiom Candidate

stem the tide

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

To stop or slow the progress of something unpleasant

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Ngăn chặn hoặc làm chậm tiến trình của điều gì đó không mong muốn

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: hold back the ocean's tide

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

The new policy aims to stem the tide of rising unemployment

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Topics: Water

Common questions

What does “stem the tide” mean?

To stop or slow the progress of something unpleasant Literally: hold back the ocean's tide

Is “stem the tide” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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