ASCENDING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does ascending mean? 

• ASCENDING (noun)
  The noun ASCENDING has 1 sense:

1. the act of changing location in an upward direction

  Familiarity information: ASCENDING used as a noun is very rare.

• ASCENDING (adjective)
  The adjective ASCENDING has 1 sense:

1. moving or going or growing upward

  Familiarity information: ASCENDING used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ASCENDING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of changing location in an upward direction

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

ascending; ascension; ascent; rise

Hypernyms ("ascending" is a kind of...):

motion; move; movement (the act of changing location from one place to another)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ascending"):

levitation (the act of raising (a body) from the ground by presumably spiritualistic means)

heave; heaving (the act of lifting something with great effort)

climb; mount (the act of climbing something)

soar; zoom (the act of rising upward into the air)

• ASCENDING (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Moving or going or growing upward

Context example:

the ascending stems of chickweed

Similar:

acclivitous; rising; uphill (sloping upward)

ascendant; ascendent; ascensive (tending or directed upward)

assurgent (growing or extending upward)

assurgent (rising from the sea)

scandent (used especially of plants; having a tendency to climb)

highflying (moving upward or along at a considerable height)

up; upward (extending or moving toward a higher place)

Also:

up (being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level)

Antonym:

descending (coming down or downward)

 Context examples 

The HAP consists of 94 common daily activities listed in ascending order according to the energy required to perform them.

(Human Activity Profile Test, NCI Thesaurus)

When he was ascending the stairs with them, the gardener met him, and said: How can you take the king’s daughter a garland of such common flowers?

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

The bend of the colon at the juncture of its ascending and transverse portions.

(Hepatic Flexure, NCI Thesaurus)

A branch of the superior mesenteric artery that supplies blood to the terminal ileum and ascending colon.

(Ileo-Colic Artery, NCI Thesaurus)

We kept on ascending, with occasional periods of quick descent, but in the main always ascending.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

A compound that inhibits symport of sodium, potassium, and chloride primarily in the ascending limb of Henle, but also in the proximal and distal tubules.

(Ethacrynic Acid, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

A blood vessel running parallel to the ileocolic artery that drains blood from the terminal ileum and ascending colon into the superior mesenteric vein.

(Ileocolic Vein, NCI Thesaurus)

The curved section of the aorta between the ascending and the descending tracts.

(Aortic Arch, NCI Thesaurus)

Acute infection of the bile ducts caused by bacteria ascending from the small intestine.

(Ascending Cholangitis, NCI Thesaurus)

As a thiazide-like diuretic, fenquizone acts by blocking reabsorption of sodium in the proximal tubule and the ascending branch of the loop of Henle.

(Fenquizone, NCI Thesaurus)