descending node

Save This Word!

noun Astronomy.

the node through which an orbiting body passes as it moves to the south (opposed to ascending node).

QUIZ

QUIZ YOURSELF ON "WAS" VS. "WERE"!

Were you ready for a quiz on this topic? Well, here it is! See how well you can differentiate between the uses of "was" vs. "were" in this quiz.

Question 1 of 7

“Was” is used for the indicative past tense of “to be,” and “were” is only used for the subjunctive past tense.

Origin of descending node

First recorded in 1690–1700

They were holding too many meetings, he realized, descending into politics instead of ascending to reckon with Flagg.
McConaughey’s ‘Stand’—And Ours|James Poulos|December 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
First, bubonic (rhymes with pneumonic but is altogether different) is a local infection sequestered in a lymph node.
Bubonic Plague Is Back (but It Never Really Left)|Kent Sepkowitz|November 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
You can hear the choppers descending even if you have never set foot in the country.
A Different Kind of Vietnam Story|J.T. Price|October 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
With them are thousands of other hapless mall-goers, descending rapidly into deadly anarchy.
The War Inside: Terrorism & Teenhood in ‘No Dawn Without Darkness’|Hugh Ryan|August 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST

In fact, he's even a kind of modern-day Orpheus, descending into the sewer to bet his life and find redemption.
New York’s Greatest Show Or How They Did Not Screw Up ‘Guys and Dolls’|Ross Wetzsteon|April 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Descending the Alps to the east or south into Piedmont, a new world lies around and before you.
Glances at Europe|Horace Greeley
We were about nine hours of fair daylight traversing 160 miles of level or descending grade, with a light passenger train.
Glances at Europe|Horace Greeley
He was in the descending lift when he suddenly remembered that that particular tube ran beneath the river.
Uncanny Tales|Various
I prefer the principle of the ascending and descending scale, to such an amount of fixed duty.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
Because Social Covenanting, approved in Scripture, conferred descending obligation.
The Ordinance of Covenanting|John Cunningham