ascending
Americanadjective
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moving upward; rising.
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Botany. growing or directed upward, especially obliquely or in a curve from the base.
adjective
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moving upwards; rising
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botany sloping or curving upwards
the ascending stem of a vine
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ascending
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at ascend, -ing 2
Explanation
If something is ascending, it's rising or moving up. At a hot air balloon race, you'll see dozens of ascending balloons. An ascending road appears to rise in front of you as it curves up over a hill, and an ascending bird flies up into the sky. To ascend is to rise, and the adjective ascending describes a rising or growing thing. You can also use it figuratively: "She's an ascending queen, rising to the throne after the death of her father." In Latin, ascendere, "to climb up," and also "to rise" or "to reach."
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.
The sectors are sorted by current forward P/E, ascending, with the full index at the bottom.
From MarketWatch • May 14, 2026
"Mogging", for example, means being better looking than another man, and "ascending" is becoming better looking.
From BBC • Apr. 24, 2026
Ternus joined as a mechanical engineer in 2001, before ascending to the leadership team in 2013.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026
All three of these patterns made a higher low which formed a bullish ascending triangle.
From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026
Rewrite each scale from Figure 4.18 as an ascending harmonic minor scale.
From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones
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.
