ascend
Americanverb (used without object)
-
ascends,
present (3rd person singular)
-
ascended,
past participle, past
-
ascending
present participle
-
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)
-
ascends,
present (3rd person singular)
-
ascended,
past participle, past
-
ascending
present participle
-
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
Synonym Usage
See climb.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
ascendsimple
-
ascendssimple
-
have ascendedperfect
-
has ascendedperfect
-
am ascendingprogressive
-
are ascendingprogressive
-
is ascendingprogressive
-
have been ascendingperfect progressive
-
has been ascendingperfect progressive
Past
-
ascendedsimple
-
had ascendedperfect
-
was ascendingprogressive
-
were ascendingprogressive
-
had been ascendingperfect progressive
Future
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”
Explanation
To ascend is to move or travel upwards. You can do this literally, like when you ascend to 35,000 feet after your plane takes off, or figuratively, like when you win the lottery and ascend to a higher social class. Riding the escalators in the department store is one way to amuse yourself while your parents shop. You can ascend all the way to the 8th floor, and then descend back to the ground floor. Both ascend and descend come from the Latin verb scandere, which means "to climb." It's the prefixes that make all the difference. The a- of ascend makes the word mean "climb up," while the de- of its antonym makes descend mean "climb down."
Vocabulary lists containing ascend
"Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare, Act III
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"The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak, Part Six
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Beowulf vocabulary
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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.
See Examples For:
But what some perceive as a negative makes the Green Lantern legend appealing to others, especially those driven to ascend through ambition and hard work.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
Araya, the arborist, outfitted Paloma Muñiz-Ochoa, 17, and Maia Atkinson, 17, then, one by one, taught them the leg technique to ascend prepositioned ropes to a branch 50 feet above ground.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2026
An Asahi Shimbun poll in May also showed 72 percent of respondents in favour of changing the rules to allow women to ascend the throne.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
Ever since, fans have been hoping she'll ascend to the top of the Pyramid Stage.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
Although in a few hours we would leave camp as a group, we would ascend as individuals, linked to one another by neither rope nor any deep sense of loyalty.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
As the rover ascends, the landscape increasingly shows signs that water gradually disappeared over time, although occasional wetter periods allowed rivers and lakes to return.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 14, 2026
Only days remain until Zohran Mamdani ascends the throne of New York City, and nearly all his great opponents have given up.
From Slate ● Dec. 29, 2025
The trail ascends from the parking lot toward a cliff-side monastery that is a popular destination for pilgrims and day-trippers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2025
After performing most of the first act as the raven-haired Mistress, Gaga ascends to a dance floor lit up like a chess board, competing against her opponent in a lethal, choreographed game.
From Salon ● Apr. 16, 2025
He ascends, falls at a slope, strikes the rebar and returns to the ground.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
George IV died before seeing the project completed, and the first paintings were hung after his niece Queen Victoria ascended to the throne in 1837.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
Al-Aqsa is mentioned in the Quran, and it is from where Muslims believe the Prophet Muhammad ascended to Heaven.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
Even as he ascended to Goldman’s C-suite, Blankfein said he styled himself conservatively.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
Colbert ascended to the pinnacle of US late-night TV when he was named host of the CBS flagship, shedding the character and employing his own voice.
From Barron's ● May 21, 2026
Butterflies of different vivid colors danced from petal to petal, and they seemed to cloud around Ishtar as she ascended the stairs to the front door, still on her call.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
“I had the cool experience of actually ascending into the treehouse,” said Kim Cooper, co-owner of Esotouric tours and former visitors to the treehouse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
A mantle plume ascending from deep within the mantle whose constituent material differs chemically from the surrounding mantle and may include components derived from ancient oceanic crust.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 18, 2026
Neros’s profile in the administration has been ascending.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
However, while Aldi is rapidly ascending the ranks of American grocery consciousness, it is not, and may never aim to be, Walmart.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
Upon ascending, I was confronted by the most welcome of spectacles: Dr. Trefusis and Bono both having just come aboard, conferring with Serjeant Clippinger.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
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.
