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Definition of "descend" []

  • To move from a higher to a lower place; come or go down. (verb-intransitive)
  • To slope, extend, or incline downward: "A rough path descended like a steep stair into the plain” ( J.R.R. Tolkien). (verb-intransitive)
  • To come from an ancestor or ancestry: He was descended from a pioneer family. (verb-intransitive)
  • To come down from a source; derive: a tradition descending from colonial days. (verb-intransitive)
  • To pass by inheritance: The house has descended through four generations. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "descend" in a sentence
  • "On this descend is a little lover's seat that gives an illusion of suspension in pictures taken there."
  • "It's hard to imagine that this mom-and-pop operation forced Owen Hart to wear a ridiculous costume and descend from the rafters at a pay-per-view -- a stunt which resulted in Owen falling to his death in front of tens of thousands of horrified fans."
  • "I might not even wait to mock you: Sitting around and hoping for a Verizon iPhone to descend from the skies, year after year, starts to resemble cargo-cult behavior."