ASCEND

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does ascend mean? 

• ASCEND (verb)
  The verb ASCEND has 8 senses:

1. travel up

2. go back in order of genealogical succession

3. become king or queen

4. appear to be moving upward, as by means of tendrils

5. go along towards (a river's) source

6. slope upwards

7. come up, of celestial bodies

8. move to a better position in life or to a better job

  Familiarity information: ASCEND used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ASCEND (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they ascend    ... he / she / it ascends   
Past simple: ascended   
Past participle: ascended   
-ing form: ascending   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Travel up

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

ascend; go up

Context example:

The mountaineers slowly ascended the steep slope

Hypernyms (to "ascend" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "ascend"):

come up; rise; rise up; surface (come to the surface)

uprise (ascend as a sound)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

The airplane is sure to ascend

Antonym:

descend (move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way)

Derivation:

ascendant (tending or directed upward)

ascent (a movement upward)

ascent (the act of changing location in an upward direction)

ascensive (tending or directed upward)

ascension (a movement upward)

ascension (the act of changing location in an upward direction)

ascender (someone who ascends)

ascendable (capable of being ascended)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Go back in order of genealogical succession

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Context example:

Inheritance may not ascend linearly

Hypernyms (to "ascend" is one way to...):

date back; date from; go back (belong to an earlier time)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 3

Meaning:

Become king or queen

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

She ascended to the throne after the King's death

Hypernyms (to "ascend" is one way to...):

accede; enter (take on duties or office)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

ascendancy (the state that exists when one person or group has power over another)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Appear to be moving upward, as by means of tendrils

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

ascend; climb up

Context example:

the vine climbed up the side of the house

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 5

Meaning:

Go along towards (a river's) source

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

The boat ascended the Delaware

Hypernyms (to "ascend" is one way to...):

follow; travel along (travel along a certain course)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 6

Meaning:

Slope upwards

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

The path ascended to the top of the hill

Hypernyms (to "ascend" is one way to...):

incline; pitch; slope (be at an angle)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

ascendant; ascendent (tending or directed upward)

ascender (a lowercase letter that has a part extending above other lowercase letters)

ascensive (tending or directed upward)

ascent (an upward slope or grade (as in a road))

Sense 7

Meaning:

Come up, of celestial bodies

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

ascend; come up; rise; uprise

Context example:

Jupiter ascends

Hypernyms (to "ascend" is one way to...):

arise; come up; go up; lift; move up; rise; uprise (move upward)

Domain category:

astronomy; uranology (the branch of physics that studies celestial bodies and the universe as a whole)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

ascendent (tending or directed upward)

ascension ((astronomy) the rising of a star above the horizon)

Sense 8

Meaning:

Move to a better position in life or to a better job

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

ascend; move up; rise

Context example:

She ascended from a life of poverty to one of great renown

Hypernyms (to "ascend" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

 Context examples 

As the boat ascended on a sea, her feet touched and I released her hands.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The U-shaped portion of the nephron between the proximal and distal convoluted tubules with descending, ascending, and thick ascending limbs which sets up a concentration gradient in the medulla.

(Henle's Loop, NCI Thesaurus)

When they ascended the steps to the hall, Maria's alarm was every moment increasing, and even Sir William did not look perfectly calm.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Following his lead, we ascended five stories, until we found ourselves outside a half-opened door, at which our client tapped.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The ascending portion of the duodenum between the aorta and the ligament of Treitz.

(Fourth Portion of the Duodenum, NCI Thesaurus)

A blood vessel also known as the supratrochlear artery that arises from the ophthalmic artery and ascends on the forehead.

(Frontal Artery, NCI Thesaurus)

I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that she could not ascend.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

At dawn Van Helsing hypnotised me; he says I answered "darkness, creaking wood and roaring water," so the river is changing as they ascend.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Summer arrived, and dogs and men packed on their backs, rafted across blue mountain lakes, and descended or ascended unknown rivers in slender boats whipsawed from the standing forest.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

A bundle of neuronal fibers originating in the lumbosacral spinal cord that ascend to the ipsilateral cerebellum conveying proprioceptive information for the lower limbs and joints.

(Direct Cerebellar Tract, NCI Thesaurus)