Definitions for: Descend


[v] come as if by falling; "Night fell"; "Silence fell"
[v] move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way; "The temperature is going down"; "The barometer is falling"; "The curtain fell on the diva"; "Her hand went up and then fell again"
[v] do something that one considers to be below one's dignity
[v] come from; be connected by a relationship of blood, for example; "She was descended from an old Italian noble family"; "he comes from humble origins"



Webster (1913) Definition: De*scend", v. i. [imp. & p. p. Descended; p. pr. &
vb. n. Descending.] [F. descendre, L. descendere,
descensum; de- + scandere to climb. See Scan.]
1. To pass from a higher to a lower place; to move downwards;
to come or go down in any way, as by falling, flowing,
walking, etc.; to plunge; to fall; to incline downward; --
the opposite of ascend.

The rain descended, and the floods came. --Matt.
vii. 25.

We will here descend to matters of later date.
--Fuller.

2. To enter mentally; to retire. [Poetic]

[He] with holiest meditations fed, Into himself
descended. --Milton.

3. To make an attack, or incursion, as if from a vantage
ground; to come suddenly and with violence; -- with on or
upon.

And on the suitors let thy wrath descend. --Pope.

4. To come down to a lower, less fortunate, humbler, less
virtuous, or worse, state or station; to lower or abase
one's self; as, he descended from his high estate.

5. To pass from the more general or important to the
particular or less important matters to be considered.

6. To come down, as from a source, original, or stock; to be
derived; to proceed by generation or by transmission; to
fall or pass by inheritance; as, the beggar may descend
from a prince; a crown descends to the heir.

7. (Anat.) To move toward the south, or to the southward.

8. (Mus.) To fall in pitch; to pass from a higher to a lower
tone.


De*scend", v. t.
To go down upon or along; to pass from a higher to a lower
part of; as, they descended the river in boats; to descend a
ladder.

But never tears his cheek descended. --Byron.

Synonyms: come, come down, condescend, deign, derive, fall, fall, go down, settle

Antonyms: arise, ascend, come up, go up, lift, move up, rise, uprise

See Also: abseil, act, alight, avalanche, break, cascade, cascade down, cave in, climb down, collapse, come, crash, dismount, dive, drip, drop, fall in, flop, founder, get down, get off, give, give way, go, go under, light, locomote, move, move, pitch, plop, plunge, plunk, pounce, precipitate, prolapse, rappel, roll down, rope down, set, settle, sink, subside, swoop, topple, travel, tumble, unhorse

Try our:
Scrabble Word Finder

Scrabble Cheat

Words With Friends Cheat

Hanging With Friends Cheat

Scramble With Friends Cheat

Ruzzle Cheat



Related Resources:
animals starting with r
animal facts