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descend

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Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionaryde·scend \di-ˈsend, dē-\ verb ETYMOLOGY Middle English, from Anglo-French descendre,from Latin descendere, from de- + scandere to climb — more at scan DATE 13th centuryintransitive verb1. to pass from a higher place or level to a lower one descended from the platform2. to pass in discussion from what is logically prior or more comprehensive3. a. to originate or come from an ancestral stock or source : derive descends from an old merchant family b. to pass by inheritance a desk that has descended in the family c. to pass by transmission songs descended from old ballads4. to incline, lead, or extend downward the road descends to the river5. a. to swoop or pounce down (as in a sudden attack) b. to appear suddenly and often disconcertingly as if from above reporters descended on the candidate6. to proceed in a sequence or gradation from higher to lower or from more remote to nearer or more recent7. a. to lower oneself in status or dignity : stoop b. to worsen and sink in condition or estimationtransitive verb1. to pass, move, or climb down or down along2. to extend down along• de·scend·ible \-ˈsen-də-bəl\ adjectiveEnglish Etymologydescend c.1300, from O.Frhttp://O.Fr. descendre, from L. descendere, from de- "down" + scandere "to climb," from PIE base *skand- "jump." Sense of "originate from" is late 14c. In typography, descender"part of a letter that extends below the body" is from 1802.Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary-牛津双解-OALD7descenddes·cend / di5send / verb1. (formal) to come or go down from a higher to a lower level 下来；下去；下降: ▪ [V] The plane began to descend. 飞机开始降落。 The results, ranked in descending order (= from the highest to the lowest) are as follows: 结果按递减顺序排列如下。 ▪ [VN] She descended the stairs slowly. 她缓慢地走下楼梯。 OPP ascend 2. [V] (formal) (of a hill, etc. 山等) to slope downwards 下斜；下倾: At this point the path descends steeply. 小路从这里陡然而下。 OPP ascend 3. [V] ~ (on / upon sb / sth) (literary) (of night, darkness , a mood, etc. 夜晚、黑暗、情绪等) to arrive and begin to affect sb / sth 降临；来临 SYN fall : Night descends quickly in the tropics. 热带地区黑夜来得快。 Calm descended on the crowd. 人群平静下来。 PHRASAL VERBS ▪ be des'cended from sb to be related to sb who lived a long time ago 是某人的后裔: He claims to be descended from a Spanish prince. 他声称是一位西班牙王子的后裔。 ▪ des'cend into sth [no passive] (formal) to gradually get into a bad state 逐渐陷入: The country was descending into chaos. 这个国家陷入一片混乱。 ▪ des'cend on / upon sb / sth to visit sb / sth in large numbers, sometimes unexpectedly 突然大批来访: Hundreds of football fans descended on the city. 数百名足球迷蜂拥入城。 ▪ des'cend to sth [no passive] to do sth that makes people stop respecting you 降低身分去做；竟做出；堕落到…地步: They descended to the level of personal insults. 他们竟卑鄙到进行人身侮辱的地步。 Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of EnglishOxford Collocations dictionary for students of Englishdescend verb 1 move downwards ADV. quickly, rapidly | slowly 2 lead downwards ADV. sharply, steeply | gently, gradually PREP. into, to The path descends steeply to the village. 3 be descended from sb/sth: be related to sb/sth ADV. directly The breed is almost directly descended from the Eurasian wild boar. VERB + DESCEND claim to He claims to be descended from a Spanish prince. OLTdescend verb⇨ fall 2 (a plane descends)⇨ slope (a path descends)Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridgedde·scend\də̇ˈsend, dēˈ-\ verb(-ed/-ing/-s)Etymology: Middle English descenden, from Old French descendre, from Latin descendere, from de- + -scendere (from scandere to climb) — more at scanintransitive verb1. : to go or come down: a. : to pass from a higher place or spatial level to a lower one :move downward < these fish winter up the river … and descend to the sea … in the spring — Biological Abstracts > < the river descends 18 feet in one mile > < the paper descends from one roller onto another > b. : to appear or enter from above or from a spiritual realm < to her it seemed that a god had descended from the blue sky personally to aid her — Charles Beadle > < he felt a great being descending into him and strengthening him — W.B.Yeats > specifically : to settle down like a blanket or curtain < the sound that irresistibly you make when death is about to descend — F.M.Ford > c. archaic : to withdraw or retreat from social intercourse and seclude oneself in personal or mental absorption d. of the testes of a mammal : to pass from the abdominal cavity into the scrotum2. : to pass in discussion from what in logical order precedes or from what is the more comprehensive or universal < ascend to causes, descend to consequences > < the writer descends from the general to the particular — Times Literary Supplement >3. a. : to come down or spring from a stock or source : originate, derive < the family descended from Scotch-Irish immigrants who came to America in the 18th century > < historians report that he descended from an ancient family of noble lineage > b. : to pass by inheritance < that kingship was divinely ordained to descend according to strict hereditary principles — J.H.Plumb > < heirlooms which have descended in families since the original Pennsylvania Dutch immigrants arrived — V.R.Tortora > c. : to pass by transmission : take origin or pattern or acquire character from a precursor < songs descended from early ballads > < if, as some scholars believe, Greek liturgical music descends from the hymns to the Olympian gods — New York Times >4. : to incline, lead, or extend downward : form or follow a downgrade < the coastal mountains descended precipitously to the very edge of the Pacific — R.A.Billington > < the road descends to the flatland >5. a. : to swoop or pounce down or make a sudden attack — usually used with on or upon < the plague descended upon them > < if the enemy descended on his country > b. : to converge or materialize as if from above with disconcerting abruptness or in formidable array — used with on or upon < one evening the police descended quietly, without warning, on a dozen or so drive-in taverns — Green Peyton > < over a hundred newspaper reporters from all over America descended upon this amazed little southern town to cover the trial — R.W.Murray > also : to make a startling or exciting visitation < the most famous visitors, licit or otherwise, to descend on the island — Horace Sutton > c. : to pour down or in with beneficient effect — used with on or upon < then fame and royalties descended upon him — E.A.Weeks >6. : to proceed in a sequence or gradation from higher to lower or from more remote to nearer or more recent < this list is arranged in descending order of the reliability of the information — R.N.Denney > < we shall expect to find the curves of art and spiritual fervor ascending and descending together — Clive Bell >7. a. : to sink in status or dignity : demean or degrade oneself by indulgence in pettiness or unworthy behavior : stoop < ashamed of myself for having descended to a kind of wheedling — Kenneth Roberts > < his successor, after failing to dominate, descended to reckless abuse — Raymond Moley > b. : to worsen and sink in condition or estimation : become degraded : degenerate < the family descended from comparative prosperity to poverty > < her autobiography descends to a dragging pedestrianism > < his attacks descend to a level almost indistinguishable from personal character assassination — Martin Gardner > c. : to pass from higher to lower musical notes or tonestransitive verb1. obsolete : to cause to descend : bring down < power to raise some and descend others >2. a. : to pass, move, or climb down or down along < descended the steps with senile deliberation — Arnold Bennett > b. : to journey downstream along (a stream) or toward the foot of (a lake)3. : to extend down along < a raw scar descends the side of the mountain showing the course of a slide > < vertical tucks descending the bodice — Lois Long >Synonyms: dismount, alight: these have in common a sense of getting or coming down from a height. One descends when one goes or climbs down a slope or incline, as of a mountain, hill, ladder, stair, tree, and so on. One dismounts by getting off (the back of a horse or other ridable animal, a bicycle, motorcycle, or similar vehicle). One alights when one dismounts with a certain springing lightness or grace or when one gets down from a carriage, gets out of a car or off a plane.

To Descend Descended Pass Verb B Descended Lower