All 12 Uses of

descend
in
Gone with the Wind

In addition, bevies of belles from the country districts, where all remaining men were under sixteen or over sixty, descended upon the town.
Chpt 3.18

descended = arrived

She heard sounds of moving feet upstairs and thought "May the Lord damn Prissy," before her eyes closed and something like sleep descended upon her.
Chpt 3.22

descended = came or arrived

She knew that she and Frank were already in the Yankees' black books, because of Tony, and disaster might descend on them at any hour.
Chpt 4.38 *

descend = come suddenly

Looking out the window, Scarlett saw Pork, who had left the room a moment before, holding high a flaring pine knot, while indistinguishable figures descended from a wagon.†
Chpt 1.4

As she descended from the carriage, she saw Suellen smirk and knew that she must have picked out Frank Kennedy in the crowd.†
Chpt 1.6

Doan step down in dat mud," he ordered severely, as Scarlett gathered up her skirts preparatory to descending.†
Chpt 2.8

Startled at having callers at such an hour, Melanie, Scarlett and Aunt Pittypat roused themselves, hastily hooked their basques, smoothed their hair and descended to the parlor.†
Chpt 2.9

As she stood there, it seemed as though a yoke descended heavily upon her neck, felt as though a heavy load were harnessed to it, a load she would feel as soon as she took a step.†
Chpt 3.21

Torrents of sparks shot to the sky and descended slowly, lazily, through blood-colored clouds of smoke.†
Chpt 3.23 *

They descended like locusts and left Tara to starve slowly and now they were back again to steal the poor leavings.†
Chpt 3.26

And her temper grew shorter and shorter as the weeks went by, for every dollar she saved would be just one more dollar to lose if disaster descended.†
Chpt 4.38

Definitions:

(1) (descend as in: descend the mountain)
move or slope downward
(2) (descend as in: in descending order)
move down a scale -- as from larger numbers to smaller, or higher notes to lower
(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
(4) (descend as in: descend into poverty)
figuratively, to move downward to a worse or less prestigious situation
(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
(6) (descend as in: thieves descended upon us)
to come or arrive -- especially suddenly or from above or as an attack