descend Hear it!

descend Definition

de·scend (dē send′, di-)

intransitive verb

  1. to move from a higher to a lower place; come down or go down
  2. to pass from an earlier to a later time, from greater to less, from general to particular, etc.
  3. to slope or extend downward
  4. to come down (from a source, as from an ancestor): usually with auxiliary be he is descended from pioneers
  5. to pass by inheritance or heredity the estate descended to the nephew
  6. to lower oneself or stoop (to some act)
  7. to make a sudden attack, raid, or visit (on or upon)
  8. Astron. to move toward the horizon
  9. Music to move down the scale

Etymology: ME descenden < OFr descendre < L descendere, to climb down, fall < de-, down + scandere, to climb < ? IE base *skend-, *skand-, to leap > Gr skandalon (> scandal), Sans Skandati, (he) leaps

transitive verb

to move, step, or pass down or down along

descend Related Forms

de·scend′·ible adjective

descend Synonyms

descend

v.

  1. To move lower

    come down, go down, slide, settle, drop, stoop, gravitate, slip, dismount, fall, topple, plunge, dive, plummet, sink, dip, pass downward, pitch, slope, decline, alight, light, disembark, detrain, deplane, tumble, move downward, come down on, slump, trip, stumble, flutter down, submerge, penetrate, step down, climb down, get down, swoop down, step off, climb off, get off, swoop, precipitate, plump*, plop (down)*; see also dive, drop 1, fall.

    Antonyms climb*, ascend*, mount. *

  2. To descend figuratively

    decline, deteriorate, degenerate; see decrease 1.

  3. To lower oneself

    stoop, sink, humble oneself; see condescend.

descend Usage Examples

Object

  • stair: A newly wed couple emerges, descends some stairs.
  • aorta: I have also had surgery for a dilated descending aorta at the site of a Coarctation of Aorta ( CoA ) repair.
  • colon: Splenic flexure: That portion of the colon where the transverse and the descending colon meet, below the spleen.
  • shaft: The State of the Pit At midnight there were many men present ready on the least call for volunteers to descend the shaft.
  • staircase: He sauntered out upon the landing, and descended the staircase.
  • gully: Dislocation of shoulder 28/03 Cwm Penmachno North Side 1 Scrambling Party descending gully attempting to by pass waterfall.

Preposition: on

la: Will launch the hold 'em event at descended on las.

Preposition: into

  • farce: It's very sad that a fan club has descended into a bizarre farce due to the actions of a few people.
  • chaos: We know the consequences - the system descended into chaos within weeks.
  • cliche: The moment a script seems to be about to descend into cliche, Whedon normally pulls the rug out from under your feet.
  • hell: He descended into hell; the third day He arose again from the dead.
  • madness: The third narrator, Jane Boleyn, is a Gregory specialty, a chilling portrait of amorality and self-delusion descending into madness.
  • parody: Maxwell Martin's portrayal never descends into parody and never asserts an overweening superiority; it is simply well judged and superbly executed.

Modifying Another Word

steeply: Turn right at a waymarked junction on a footpath which descends steeply to the River Severn.

Preposition: from

  • ancestor: The motto expressed Darwin's belief that all life was descended from a single ancestor.
  • heaven: Jade Jade is regarded by the Chinese as a stone descended from heaven.
  • summit: The four men all in their 30's from the Dundee area got lost as they descended from the summit of Ben Macdui, Aberdeenshire.
  • immigrant: All but 300,000 Australians descended from immigrants who began arriving with the settlement of British convicts in 1788.
  • sky: On this night also The Lady of the West descended from the sky to teach the Emperor Wu the secret of immortality.

Preposition: by

parachute: This typical wartime Secret Memorandum was intended to safeguard allied airmen descending by parachute over Fife.