Sample sentences for DESCEND - verbalworkout.com

6 meanings

(click/touch triangles for details)

1 —as in:
descend the mountain

Definition

move or slope downward

We saw the rocket descend.

descend = move downward

Other Uses (with this meaning)

The path descends to the bottom of the mountain.

descends = slopes downward

She saw him as he was descending the stairs.

descending = going down

Jack and Jill went up the hill, and then they descended.
Okonkwo's machete descended twice and the man's head lay beside his uniformed body.
Chinua Achebe -- Things Fall Apart

descended = moved down

Lina's arms were just long enough to reach past Poppy and hold on to the ladder. She descended very slowly.
Jeanne DuPrau -- The City of Ember

descended = climbed down

Kinney turned the plane again, descended very low over camp, and dipped his wings.
Laura Hillenbrand -- Unbroken

descended = moved downward

The dangling, shiny prize of peace just out of grasp until finally her body descends to the bottom and settles in murky quiet.
Delia Owens -- Where the Crawdads Sing

descends = goes downward

After descending about eighty feet, I got back on reasonably solid ground.
Jon Krakauer -- Into the Wild

descending = moving downward

We nodded as she slowly descended the stairs.
Mildred D. Taylor -- Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

descended = came down

Dictionary / pronunciation — Google^®Dictionary / more samples — Oxford^® US Dictionary list — Onelook.com^®

2 —as in:
in descending order

Definition

move down a scale — as from larger numbers to smaller, or higher notes to lower

The three most populous countries in descending order are China, India, and the United States.

descending = moving from larger numbers to smaller numbers

Other Uses (with this meaning)

She practiced by playing a descending scale.

descending = moving downward (figuratively) to a lower pitch

These are my goals in descending order of importance.

descending = moving downward (figuratively) on a scale of importance

The three largest countries in descending order are Russia, Canada, and the United States.

descending = larger to smaller

Print one list by name in alphabetical order and another by amount contributed in descending order.

descending = moving from larger numbers to smaller numbers

Very slowly, "Oh, Ford, Ford, Ford," it said diminishingly and on a descending scale.
Aldous Huxley -- Brave New World

descending = moving downward in lowness of pitch

They seemed to be numbered in descending order.
Michael Crichton -- Jurassic Park

descending = moving downward from larger to smaller numbers

The ballot itself was a long, narrow piece of paper with the parties listed in descending order to the left, and then the symbol of the party and a picture of its leader to the right.
Nelson Mandela -- Long Walk to Freedom

descending = from largest to smallest (probably from the party with the most members to the one with the least members)

And when you're a man who is variously described as dutiful, deferential, obsequious, slavish and brown-nosingly corrupt, in descending order of distinction, you need to make a show of character now and then.
Don DeLillo -- Underworld

descending = moving downward on a scale from most to least distinct

Dictionary / pronunciation — Google^®Dictionary / more samples — Oxford^® US Dictionary list — Onelook.com^®

3 —as in:
descend from royalty

Definition

figuratively, to have come down a path from the past; i.e., to originate or come from — such as in reference to ancestors or evolutionary origins

She descended from an old Italian noble family.

descended = came from (had as an ancestor)

Other Uses (with this meaning)

They say all dogs are descended from wolves.

descended = came from (evolved from)

A group of languages that descend form a common language ancestor is known as a language family.

descend = come from (in the past)

I descended from Armenian immigrants.

descended = came from (had as ancestors)

It is a tradition descending from an over-1000-year-old religious practice.

descending = coming from (in the past)

She concludes that all mammalian species are likely descended from a common ancestor.

descended = came from (evolved from)

Do you believe we're descended from apes?
David Almond -- Skellig

descended = evolved

The tribal lineage descends from the father's side, the male ancestors.
Marcus Luttrell -- Lone Survivor

descends = comes (genetically)

For example, the clans of the American hunting tribes commonly regarded themselves as descended from half-animal, half-human ancestors.
Joseph Campbell -- The Hero With a Thousand Faces

descended = having come (as though genetically)

Descended from the dinosaurs.
John Green -- Turtles All the Way Down

descended = evolved from

Dictionary / pronunciation — Google^®Dictionary / more samples — Oxford^® US Dictionary list — Onelook.com^®

4 —as in:
descend into poverty

Definition

figuratively, to move downward to a worse or less prestigious situation

Partisan politics has descended to new lows.

descended = move downward (figuratively) to a worse condition

Other Uses (with this meaning)

When she got sick, the family descended into poverty.

descended = move downward (figuratively) to a worse or less prestigious situation

I will not descend to hurling insults in return.

descend = move downward (figuratively) to a worse or less prestigious situation

The country descended into chaos.

descended = move downward (figuratively) to a worse condition

She predicts the country will descend into anarchy.

descend = move downward (figuratively) to a worse condition

Felt myself slipping, but even that's a metaphor. Descending, but that is, too. Can't describe the feeling itself except to say that I'm not me.
John Green -- Turtles All the Way Down

descending = moving to a worse situation

That night the electricity went out, cut off by the authorities, and Kensington and Chelsea descended into darkness.
Moshin Hamid -- Exit West

descended = transformed (to a lower or less good condition)

Once again in his tormenter's clutches, Louie descended back into a state of profound stress.
Laura Hillenbrand -- Unbroken

descended = moved (to a lower or less good condition)

Shawn said it was time to mount, and I climbed onto the barn roof, sure the corral would descend into violence.
Tara Westover -- Educated

descend = figuratively, move downward to a worse situation

Hester Prynne went one day to the mansion of Governor Bellingham, with a pair of gloves which she had fringed and embroidered to his order, and which were to be worn on some great occasion of state; for, though the chances of a popular election had caused this former ruler to descend a step or two from the highest rank, he still held an honourable and influential place among the colonial magistracy.
Nathaniel Hawthorne -- The Scarlet Letter

descend = figuratively, move downward to a less prestigious situation

Dictionary / pronunciation — Google^®Dictionary / more samples — Oxford^® US Dictionary list — Onelook.com^®

5 —as in:
descend the abstraction ladder

Definition

to move from a higher level of abstraction downward to a lower one (from more general to more specific)

The further you descend from more abstract to more concrete words, the easier it is to visualize the word's meaning.

descend = move from more general to more specific

Other Uses (with this meaning)

Our conversation descended from philosophical goals to political maneuvering.

descended = moved from more general to more specific

The problem became much clearer when our look descended into details.

descended = moved from the more general to the more specific

You're going to need to descend the abstraction ladder to explain that to me.

descend = move from more general to more specific

Dictionary / pronunciation — Google^®Dictionary / more samples — Oxford^® US Dictionary list — Onelook.com^®

6 —as in:
thieves descended upon us

Definition

to come or arrive — especially suddenly or from above or as an attack

Despair descended upon us.

descended = came suddenly

Other Uses (with this meaning)

Night descended upon us.

descended = arrived

Thieves descended upon us.

descended = came suddenly

A feeling of hopelessness descended upon us.

descended = came

A seriousness descended on the crowd.

descended = came suddenly

These moods descended on her suddenly and for no apparent reason.
Chinua Achebe -- Things Fall Apart

descended = came

A sharp fear descended also, and the call to prayer they had often heard in the distance from the park was silenced.
Moshin Hamid -- Exit West

descended = came

The city was silent and emptied of people and traffic as if a plague had descended.
Malala Yousafzai -- I Am Malala

descended = arrived

At last the term ended, and a silence deep as the snow on the grounds descended on the castle.
J.K. Rowling -- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

descended = came or arrived

A smart crackle of blows, a few agonized howls, and silence and order descended suddenly on the room.
Elizabeth George Speare -- The Witch of Blackbird Pond

descended = came

Dictionary / pronunciation — Google^®Dictionary / more samples — Oxford^® US Dictionary list — Onelook.com^®

Search for other examples by interest

Interest — Source