descend
verb /dɪˈsend/
/dɪˈsend/
Verb Forms
Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they descend | /dɪˈsend/ /dɪˈsend/ |
| he / she / it descends | /dɪˈsendz/ /dɪˈsendz/ |
| past simple descended | /dɪˈsendɪd/ /dɪˈsendɪd/ |
| past participle descended | /dɪˈsendɪd/ /dɪˈsendɪd/ |
| -ing form descending | /dɪˈsendɪŋ/ /dɪˈsendɪŋ/ |
- [intransitive, transitive] (formal) to come or go down from a higher to a lower level
- The plane began to descend.
- The results, ranked in descending order (= from the highest to the lowest) are as follows…
- descend something She descended the stairs slowly.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- quickly
- rapidly
- slowly
- …
- [intransitive] (formal) (of a hill, etc.) to slope downwards
- At this point the path descends steeply.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- steeply
- gently
- gradually
- …
- into
- to
- descend into chaos
- descend into farce
- descend into madness
- …
- [intransitive] (literary) (of night, darkness, a mood, etc.) to arrive and begin to affect somebody/something synonym fall
- Night descends quickly in the tropics.
- descend on/upon somebody/something Calm descended on the crowd.
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French descendre, from Latin descendere, from de- ‘down’ + scandere ‘to climb’.