ascend

American

[uh-send] / əˈsɛnd /

verb (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.

ascend British

/ əˈsɛnd /

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

Here’s the full list, sorted by ascending forward P/E:

From MarketWatch

Capital Group ascended to the No. 1 spot by taking advantage of mercurial markets and seeing long-term bets pay off.

From Barron's

Gavin Newsom and Kamala Harris have traveled parallel political paths in California, with both rising through similar positions and competing for the same Democratic donors and advisors before Harris ascended to the vice presidency.

From Los Angeles Times

Here are the 11 stocks that passed the screen, sorted by ascending P/E:

From MarketWatch

After a top-flight career as a session musician, Preston’s star ascends ever higher after his January 1969 collaboration with The Beatles.

From Salon

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023