All 9 Uses of

descend
in
Unbroken, by Hillenbrand

In 1919, when two-year-old Louie was down with pneumonia, he climbed out his bedroom window, descended one story, and went on a naked tear down the street with a policeman chasing him and a crowd watching in amazement.
p. 5.4

descended = climbed down

Instead, he found a suitably irresponsible companion, donned his Olympic dress uniform, and descended on Berlin.
p. 35.5

descended = came suddenly

Louie took out his binoculars, descended to the greenhouse, and began scanning.
p. 117.1

descended = moved down

Once again in his tormenter's clutches, Louie descended back into a state of profound stress.
p. 280.1 *

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

As he descended, Kinney saw POWs scattered over the paddy, looking "dirty, ragged and haggard," and a lone man trying to pull them back.
p. 313.9

descended = moved downward

Kinney turned the plane again, descended very low over camp, and dipped his wings.
p. 313.9 *

He descended into a dream, and the Bird rose up over him.
p. 366.7

descended = fell or came

The search for him resumed, and the police descended again on the Watanabes.
p. 369.0

descended = came or arrived

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