ascend
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to move, climb, or go upward; mount; rise.
The airplane ascended into the clouds.
- Synonyms:
- soar
- Antonyms:
- descend
-
to slant upward.
-
to rise to a higher point, rank, or degree; proceed from an inferior to a superior degree or level.
to ascend to the presidency.
-
to go toward the source or beginning; go back in time.
-
Music. to rise in pitch; pass from any tone to a higher one.
verb (used with object)
-
to go or move upward upon or along; climb; mount.
to ascend a lookout tower;
to ascend stairs.
- Antonyms:
- descend
-
to gain or succeed to; acquire.
to ascend the throne.
verb
-
to go or move up (a ladder, hill, slope, etc); mount; climb
-
(intr) to slope or incline upwards
-
(intr) to rise to a higher point, level, degree, etc
-
to follow (a river) upstream towards its source
-
to trace (a genealogy, etc) back in time
-
to sing or play (a scale, arpeggio, etc) from the lower to higher notes
-
to become king or queen
Related Words
See climb.
Other Word Forms
- ascendable adjective
- ascendible adjective
- reascend verb
- unascendable adjective
- unascended adjective
Etymology
Origin of ascend
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English ascenden, from Anglo-French ascendre, from Latin ascendere “to climb up,” from a- a- 5 + -scendere, combining form of scandere “to climb”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Evans had arrived in Jeddah leading the standings by three points, but his hopes of finally ascending to the WRC throne after finishing runner-up four times were scuppered by a costly puncture on Friday.
From Barron's
Moreover, it effortlessly ascended and descended technical dirt trails that might leave competitors in pieces.
From MarketWatch
Beloved in colonial America, hard cider lost favor in the mid-19th century as crisp lagers ascended; the temperance movement and Prohibition felled cider-apple trees.
For many years, scientists believed that most bubbles developed only when magma ascended and the surrounding pressure fell.
From Science Daily
China has increased its oil imports and stockpiles as its economy has ascended over the past two decades.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
