ascend

[[t]əse̱nd[/t]]

ascends, ascending, ascended

1) VERB If you ascend a hill or staircase, you go up it. [WRITTEN]

[V n] Mrs Clayton had to hold Lizzie's hand as they ascended the steps...

[V prep/adv] Then we ascend steeply through forests of rhododendron. [Also V]

Ant:

descend

2) VERB If a staircase or path ascends, it leads up to a higher position. [WRITTEN]

[V prep/adv] A number of staircases ascend from the cobbled streets onto the ramparts.

[V-ing] ...an ascending spiral path leading to a tower. [Also V, V n]

Ant:

descend

3) VERB If something ascends, it moves up, usually vertically or into the air. [WRITTEN]

Keep the drill centred in the borehole while it ascends and descends...

[V amount] Nott and Dickinson set a new altitude record when they ascended 55,900 feet in their balloon.

Ant:

descend

4) VERB 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]

[V to n] ...the same year he ascended to power...

[V to n] Before ascending to the bench, she was a lawyer in a large New York firm.

[V n] ...a few years before Sixtus V ascended the papal throne.

5) VERB If you ascend in your career or in society, you gradually achieve success or a higher status. [WRITTEN]

[V prep/adv] Mobutu ascended through the ranks, eventually becoming commander of the army...

[V n] They move freely from one department to another as they ascend the civil service ladder.

Syn:

climb

6) VERB In some religions, when someone's soul goes to heaven, you can say that they ascend to heaven. [FORMAL]

[V to/into n] ...the belief that the souls of the faithful and virtuous would ascend to heaven.

7) VERB If something or someone ascends to a higher level, they reach a state that is better than the one they were in before. [LITERARY]

[V from/to n] The story ascends from a gothic tragedy to a miraculous fairy-tale.

Ant:

descend

8) → See also ascending