Both Uses of
descend
in
The Great Gatsby
- The Carraways are something of a clan, and we have a tradition that we're descended from the Dukes of Buccleuch, but the actual founder of my line was my grandfather's brother, who came here in fifty-one, sent a substitute to the Civil War, and started the wholesale hardware business that my father carries on today.
p. 3.1 *descended = related through an ancestor
- With Jordan's slender golden arm resting in mine, we descended the steps and sauntered about the garden.
p. 43.3 *descended = moved down
Definitions:
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(1)
(descend as in: descend the mountain) move or slope downward
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(2)
(descend as in: in descending order) move down a scale -- as from larger numbers to smaller, or higher notes to lower
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(3)
(descend as in: descend from royalty) 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
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(4)
(descend as in: descend into poverty) figuratively, to move downward to a worse or less prestigious situation
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(5)
(descend as in: descend into deeper thought) to move from a higher level of abstraction downward to a lower one (from more general to more specific); or to move from superficial to deeper thought
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(6)
(descend as in: thieves descended upon us) to come or arrive -- especially suddenly or from above or as an attack