Descend Definition & Meaning | Britannica Dictionary (original) (raw)

Britannica Dictionary definition of DESCEND

formal

1

:

to go down

:

to go or move from a higher to a lower place or level

[no object]

• Wait for the elevator to descend.
• The workers descended into the hole.
• The submarine was descending.
• They descended from [=got down from] the platform.
• A herd of goats descended into the valley.
• The airplane will descend to a lower altitude soon.

[+ object]

• Descending the mountain was even more dangerous than climbing/ascending it.
• The children descended the staircase silently.
• descend a ladder

— opposite ascend

2

[no object]

:

to slope or lead downward

• The path descends to the river.
• The stairs descended into the tunnel.

— opposite ascend

3

[no object]

:

to go or change to a worse state or condition

— + into

• After his wife died, he descended [=_sank_] into a deep depression.
• The classroom descended into chaos after the teacher left.

4

[no object]

:

to appear or happen like something that comes down from the sky

• As night descended, the campers built a fire.

— usually + on or upon

• The invaders descended on the village without warning. [=the invaders attacked without warning]
• In autumn/fall, thousands of students descend on/upon [=_visit_] our town.
• Silence descended upon the crowd. [=the crowd became silent]

descend from

[phrasal verb]

descend from (something or someone)

:

to have (something or someone in the past) as an origin or source

• Recent evidence supports the theory that birds descended from dinosaurs.
• The plants descend from a common ancestor.
• The tradition descends from [=_comes from_] an ancient custom.
• They claim to be descended from a noble British family.

descend to

[phrasal verb]

1

descend to (someone)

formal

:

to become owned by (someone) when the former owner has died

• The estate descended to her from her grandparents. [=she inherited the estate from her grandparents]

2

descend to (something)

:

to lower yourself by doing (something)

• She was desperate for money, but she would not descend to [=(more commonly) _stoop to_] asking her friends for help.

— see also descend to someone's level at 1level

in descending order

◊ If people or things are in descending order, they are arranged in a series that begins with the greatest or largest and ends with the least or smallest.

• The states are listed in descending order of population size.
• The sale items are arranged in descending order according to price.