Hypertext Webster Gateway: "descend"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Descend \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.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Descend \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.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

descend
v 1: 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" [syn: {fall}, {go down}, {come
down}] [ant: {rise}, {ascend}]
2: 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" [syn: {derive}, {come}]
3: do something that one considers to be below one's dignity
[syn: {condescend}, {deign}]
4: come as if by falling; "Night fell"; "Silence fell" [syn: {fall},
{settle}]


Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup

Enter word here:
Exact Approx


dict.stokkie.net
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents; see the Webster Gateway FAQ, and also the Back-end/database links and credits.