Adjacent Words

Ascend definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ASCEND', v.i. [L. ascendo, from scando, to mount or climb.]
1. To move upwards; to mount; to go up; to rise, whether in air or water, or upon a material object.
2. To rise, in a figurative sense; to proceed from an inferior to a superior degree, from mean to noble objects, from particulars to generals, etc.
3. To proceed from modern to ancient times; to recur to former ages; as, our inquiries ascend to the remotest antiquity.
4. In a corresponding sense, to proceed in a line towards ancestors; as, to ascend to our first progenitors.
5. To rise as a star; to proceed or come above the horizon.
6. In music, to rise in vocal utterance; to pass from any note to one more acute.
ASCEND', v.t. To go or move upwards upon, as to ascend a hill or ladder; or to climb, as to ascend a tree.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: travel up, "We ascended the mountain"; "go up a ladder"; "The mountaineers slowly ascended the steep slope" [syn: ascend, go up] [ant: come down, descend, fall, go down]
2: go back in order of genealogical succession; "Inheritance may not ascend linearly"
3: become king or queen; "She ascended to the throne after the King's death"
4: appear to be moving upward, as by means of tendrils; "the vine climbed up the side of the house" [syn: ascend, climb up]
5: go along towards (a river's) source; "The boat ascended the Delaware"
6: slope upwards; "The path ascended to the top of the hill"
7: come up, of celestial bodies; "The sun also rises"; "The sun uprising sees the dusk night fled..."; "Jupiter ascends" [syn: rise, come up, uprise, ascend] [ant: go down, go under, set]
8: move to a better position in life or to a better job; "She ascended from a life of poverty to one of great [syn: ascend, move up, rise]

Merriam Webster's

verb Etymology: Middle English, from Latin ascendere, from ad- + scandere to climb — more at scan Date: 14th century intransitive verb 1. a. to move upward <the balloon ascended> b. to slope upward 2. a. to rise from a lower level or degree <ascend to power> b. to go back in time or in order of genealogical succession transitive verb 1. to go or move up <ascend a staircase> 2. to succeed to ; occupy <ascend the throne> • ascendable or ascendible adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. 1 intr. move upwards; rise. 2 intr. a slope upwards. b lie along an ascending slope. 3 tr. climb; go up. 4 intr. rise in rank or status. 5 tr. mount upon. 6 intr. (of sound) rise in pitch. 7 tr. go along (a river) to its source. 8 intr. Printing (of a letter) have part projecting upwards. Phrases and idioms: ascend the throne become king or queen. Etymology: ME f. L ascendere (as AD-, scandere climb)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Ascend As*cend", v. i. [imp. & p. p. Ascended; p. pr. & vb. n. Ascending.] [L. ascendere; ad + scandere to climb, mount. See Scan.] 1. To move upward; to mount; to go up; to rise; -- opposed to descend. Higher yet that star ascends. --Bowring. I ascend unto my father and your father. --John xx. 17. Note: Formerly used with up. The smoke of it ascended up to heaven. --Addison. 2. To rise, in a figurative sense; to proceed from an inferior to a superior degree, from mean to noble objects, from particulars to generals, from modern to ancient times, from one note to another more acute, etc.; as, our inquiries ascend to the remotest antiquity; to ascend to our first progenitor. Syn: To rise; mount; climb; scale; soar; tower.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Ascend As*cend", v. t. To go or move upward upon or along; to climb; to mount; to go up the top of; as, to ascend a hill, a ladder, a tree, a river, a throne.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(ascends, ascending, ascended) 1. If you ascend a hill or staircase, you go up it. (WRITTEN) Mrs Clayton had to hold Lizzie's hand as they ascended the steps... Then we ascend steeply through forests of rhododendron. ? descend VERB: V n, V prep/adv, also V 2. If a staircase or path ascends, it leads up to a higher position. (WRITTEN) ? descend VERB 3. If something ascends, it moves up, usually vertically or into the air. (WRITTEN) Keep the drill steady while it ascends and descends... ? descend VERB: V 4. If someone ascends to an important position, they achieve it or are appointed to it. When someone ascends a throne, they become king, queen, or pope. (FORMAL) VERB 5. see also ascending

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

a-send': By derivation the English word implies motion from a lower place to (not merely toward) a higher one; and usage tends to restrict it to cases where the beholder is in the lower, not the higher, position. the King James Version uses it 39 times in all:

(1) of the going up of vapor (Ps 135:7), flame (Jud 20:40), or smoke (Re 8:4);

(2) of travel from one place to another (Ac 25:1) or of the course of a boundary (Jos 15:3);

(3) of coming up from the underworld (1Sa 28:13; Re 11:7; 17:8); and

(4) of the going up (of men, angels, our Lord) from earth to the skies or to heaven (Ge 28:12; Joh 3:13). the Revised Version (British and American) uses the appropriate form of "to go up" in all cases falling under (2) and (3); in those under (4) it retains "ascend" with an occasional change in tense; under (1) it retains "ascend" everywhere in Old Testament (Ex 19:18; Jos 8:20,21; Ps 135:7 parallel Jer 10:13 parallel Jer 51:16) except Jud 20:40, but substitutes "went up," "goeth up," in New Testament (Re 8:4; 14:11).

The like change in the Old Testament passages would make the usage of the Revised Version (British and American) uniform.

F. K. Farr

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. n. 1. Rise, arise, mount, soar, aspire, tower, climb, go up. 2. Go backward (in the order of time). II. v. a. Scale, go up, get up. See climb, v. a.

Moby Thesaurus

advance, arise, aspire, back, back up, bank, budge, buss the clouds, cant, careen, chandelle, change, change place, circle, clamber, climb, come up, crest, curl upwards, decline, descend, dip, drop, ebb, escalade, escalate, fall, fall away, fall off, float, flow, gain altitude, get over, get up, go, go around, go downhill, go round, go sideways, go up, go uphill, grade, grow up, gyrate, hoick, incline, keel, lean, levitate, lift, list, loom, mount, move, move over, pitch, plunge, progress, rake, rear, rear up, regress, retreat, retrogress, rise, rise up, rotate, run, scale, scale the heights, scramble, shelve, shift, shin, sidle, sink, slant, slope, soar, spin, spiral, spire, stand on tiptoe, stand up, stir, stream, subside, surge, surmount, swag, swarm up, sway, sweep up, tilt, tip, top, tower, travel, up, upclimb, upgo, upgrow, upheave, uprear, uprise, upspin, upstream, upsurge, upswarm, upwind, wane, whirl, zoom