All 11 Uses of

descend
in
Severance

With that, he closed my window and descended the fire escape.
p. 57.8

descended = climbed down

With both hands, he pulled the lever. A weight descended and then lifted.
p. 89.2

descended = moved downward

The low, mechanical hum of the ceiling fan descends over the room.
p. 96.6 *

descends = arrives (figuratively--the noise has been there, but is now noticed)

With that, he stood up and descended. [the fire escape]
p. 133.1

descended = went down

He would come over maybe or, worst-case scenario, I would go over to his place, descending those basement steps once again, on some endless loop.
p. 153.6

descending = going down

They gazed out the window as the plane descended, as America crystalized from an abstraction (ice cream sundaes, Disney cartoons, blond hair) into a reality (snow-littered mountains, highways, municipal buildings).
p. 170.5

descended = moved downward

They wash and dress and descend to the first floor, in the atrium in the middle of the mall.
p. 220.1

descend = go down

When he gets to the end of our floor, he descends the still, deadened escalators and takes a lap through the first floor.
p. 226.9

descends = climbs down

I unhooked the velvet rope and descended the staircase, following the voices in the dark through the empty Accounts, IT, and HR departments, until I arrived at the employee lounge, a haven of vending machines and sectional sofas.
p. 235.9

descended = went down

I watch as he walks away, his motions smooth and unselfconscious, as he turns around to descend the escalator.
p. 281.2 *

descend = move down

I trail behind Bob, descending the escalator swiftly to bridge the distance between us.
p. 281.3

descending = going down

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