All 43 Uses of

descend

in

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

She saw the poniard descend upon Phoebus, and rise again, reeking.
Chpt 2.7.8

descend = move downward

As he uttered these monstrous words, he assumed the mien of Ajax, expecting to see the lightnings descend upon his head.
Chpt 2.10.2 *

descend = come downward

In the centre of the lofty Gothic* façade of the palace, the grand staircase, incessantly ascended and descended by a double current, which, after parting on the intermediate landing-place, flowed in broad waves along its lateral slopes,—the grand staircase, I say, trickled incessantly into the place, like a cascade into a lake.†
Chpt 1.1.1

your name shall descend to posterity!†
Chpt 1.1.5

I recognize him," exclaimed Jehan, who had, at last, descended from his capital, in order to see Quasimodo at closer quarters, "he's the bellringer of my brother, the archdeacon.†
Chpt 1.1.5

And as he descended the winding stairs of the courts: "A fine rabble of asses and dolts these Parisians!" he muttered between his teeth; "they come to hear a mystery and don't listen to it at all!†
Chpt 1.1.6

Were we not in the fifteenth century, we would say that Gringoire had descended from Michael Angelo to Callot.†
Chpt 1.2.6

"Master," stammered he; "monseigneur—sire—how ought I to address you?" he said at length, having reached the culminating point of his crescendo, and knowing neither how to mount higher, nor to descend again.†
Chpt 1.2.6

Thus, in the Town, one descended in a straight line from the Porte Saint-Antoine to the Porte Saint-Honoré; in the University from the Porte Saint-Victor to the Porte Saint-Germain.†
Chpt 1.3.2

At the moment when the archdeacon dismissed him, and said, "Go!" he mounted the spiral staircase of the clock tower faster than any one else could have descended it.†
Chpt 1.4.3

Now one perceived with affright at the very top of one of the towers, a fantastic dwarf climbing, writhing, crawling on all fours, descending outside above the abyss, leaping from projection to projection, and going to ransack the belly of some sculptured gorgon; it was Quasimodo dislodging the crows.†
Chpt 1.4.3

While Daedalus, who is force, measured; while Orpheus, who is intelligence, sang;—the pillar, which is a letter; the arcade, which is a syllable; the pyramid, which is a word,—all set in movement at once by a law of geometry and by a law of poetry, grouped themselves, combined, amalgamated, descended, ascended, placed themselves side by side on the soil, ranged themselves in stories in the sky, until they had written under the dictation of the general idea of an epoch, those marvellous books which were also marvellous edifices: the Pagoda of Eklinga, the Rhamseion of Egypt, the Temple of Solomon.†
Chpt 1.5.2

, at his coronation, when he descended our river Vesle from Sillery to Muison, when Madame the Maid of Orleans was also in the boat.†
Chpt 1.6.3

First it was the young Vicomte de Cormontreuil, who has his bell tower three leagues distant from Reims; then Messire Henri de Triancourt, equerry to the King; then less than that, Chiart de Beaulion, sergeant-at-arms; then, still descending, Guery Aubergeon, carver to the King; then, Mace de Frépus, barber to monsieur the dauphin; then, Thévenin le Moine, King's cook; then, the men growing continually younger and less noble, she fell to Guillaume Racine, minstrel of the hurdy gurdy and to Thierry de Mer, lamplighter.†
Chpt 1.6.3

During her absence, a neighbor had seen two gypsies ascend up to it with a bundle in their arms, then descend again, after closing the door.†
Chpt 1.6.3

The cloud descended more blackly than ever upon Quasimodo's brow.†
Chpt 1.6.4

La Esmeralda turned pale and descended from the pillory, staggering as she went.†
Chpt 1.6.5

The voice of the recluse still pursued her,— "Descend!†
Chpt 1.6.5

descend!†
Chpt 1.6.5

The gypsy was dancing; she was twirling her tambourine on the tip of her finger, and tossing it into the air as she danced Provençal sarabands; agile, light, joyous, and unconscious of the formidable gaze which descended perpendicularly upon her head.†
Chpt 2.7.2

Then he plunged down beneath the tortuous vault of the spiral staircase, and once more descended.†
Chpt 2.7.2

But when he had set them to swinging, when he felt that cluster of bells moving under his hand, when he saw, for he did not hear it, the palpitating octave ascend and descend that sonorous scale, like a bird hopping from branch to branch; when the demon Music, that demon who shakes a sparkling bundle of strette, trills and arpeggios, had taken possession of the poor deaf man, he became happy once more, he forgot everything, and his heart expanding, made his face beam.†
Chpt 2.7.3

He descended the Rue de la Harpe toward the City.†
Chpt 2.7.4

However, we will descend, and I will explain it to you with the text before us.†
Chpt 2.7.5

Let us descend, take the big brother's purse and convert all these coins into bottles!†
Chpt 2.7.6

He cast a glance of tenderness and admiration into the interior of the precious pouch, readjusted his toilet, rubbed up his boots, dusted his poor half sleeves, all gray with ashes, whistled an air, indulged in a sportive pirouette, looked about to see whether there were not something more in the cell to take, gathered up here and there on the furnace some amulet in glass which might serve to bestow, in the guise of a trinket, on Isabeau la Thierrye, finally pushed open the door which his brother had left unfastened, as a last indulgence, and which he, in his turn, left open as a last piece of malice, and descended the circular staircase, skipping like a bird.†
Chpt 2.7.6

In the midst of the gloom of the spiral staircase, he elbowed something which drew aside with a growl; he took it for granted that it was Quasimodo, and it struck him as so droll that he descended the remainder of the staircase holding his sides with laughter.†
Chpt 2.7.6

The hand of the shadow emerged from beneath its mantle and descended upon the arm of Phoebus with the grip of an eagle's talon; at the same time the shadow spoke,— "Captain Phoebus de Châteaupers!"†
Chpt 2.7.7

The man in the mantle obeyed without a word in reply, the door closed upon him; he heard Phoebus bolt it, and a moment later descend the stairs again with the aged hag.†
Chpt 2.7.7

After ascending and descending several steps in the corridors, which were so dark that they were lighted by lamps at mid-day, La Esmeralda, still surrounded by her lugubrious escort, was thrust by the police into a gloomy chamber.†
Chpt 2.8.2

The cellars of an edifice formed another edifice, into which one descended instead of ascending, and which extended its subterranean grounds under the external piles of the monument, like those forests and mountains which are reversed in the mirror-like waters of a lake, beneath the forests and mountains of the banks.†
Chpt 2.8.4

When she had passed on, he began to descend the staircase again, with the slowness which he had observed in the spectre, believing himself to be a spectre too, haggard, with hair on end, his extinguished lamp still in his hand; and as he descended the spiral steps, he distinctly heard in his ear a voice laughing and repeating,— "A spirit passed before my face, and I heard a small voice, and the hair of my flesh stood up."†
Chpt 2.9.1

When she had passed on, he began to descend the staircase again, with the slowness which he had observed in the spectre, believing himself to be a spectre too, haggard, with hair on end, his extinguished lamp still in his hand; and as he descended the spiral steps, he distinctly heard in his ear a voice laughing and repeating,— "A spirit passed before my face, and I heard a small voice, and the hair of my flesh stood up."†
Chpt 2.9.1

The monotonous chanting of the celebrants, the responses of the people to the priest, sometimes inarticulate, sometimes thunderous, the harmonious trembling of the painted windows, the organ, bursting forth like a hundred trumpets, the three belfries, humming like hives of huge bees, that whole orchestra on which bounded a gigantic scale, ascending, descending incessantly from the voice of a throng to that of one bell, dulled her memory, her imagination, her grief.†
Chpt 2.9.4

Jehan made him a deep bow, and descended the cloister stairs, whistling.†
Chpt 2.10.2

Ten minutes later, the cavaliers of the watch fled in terror before a long procession of black and silent men which was descending towards the Pont an Change, through the tortuous streets which pierce the close-built neighborhood of the markets in every direction.†
Chpt 2.10.3

Quasimodo picked up his lantern and descended to the platform between the towers, in order to get a nearer view, and to spy out a means of defence.†
Chpt 2.10.4

When he had descended to the platform between the towers, his ideas were all in confusion.†
Chpt 2.10.4

On emerging from the Bastille, Gringoire descended the Rue Saint-Antoine with the swiftness of a runaway horse.†
Chpt 2.10.6

Both descended towards the city with long strides.†
Chpt 2.10.6

They rapidly descended the staircase of the towers, crossed the church, full of shadows and solitude, and all reverberating with uproar, which formed a frightful contrast, and emerged into the courtyard of the cloister by the red door.†
Chpt 2.11.1

But it seemed to her as though she were descending a slope.†
Chpt 2.11.1

He made the tour of the church twenty times, length and breadth, up and down, ascending and descending, running, calling, sbouting, peeping, rummaging, ransacking, thrusting his head into every hole, pushing a torch under every vault, despairing, mad.†
Chpt 2.11.2

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From Other Sources
Grouped by 6 Meanings

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

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descend in The Hunchback of Notre Dame

descend

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame