(v. i.) To pass from a higher to a lower place; to move
downwards; to come or go down in any way, as by falling, flowing,
walking, etc.; to plunge; to fall; to incline downward; -- the opposite
of ascend.
(v. i.) To enter mentally; to retire.
(v. i.) To make an attack, or incursion, as if from a vantage
ground; to come suddenly and with violence; -- with on or upon.
(v. i.) To come down to a lower, less fortunate, humbler, less
virtuous, or worse, state or station; to lower or abase one's self; as,
he descended from his high estate.
(v. i.) To pass from the more general or important to the
particular or less important matters to be considered.
(v. i.) To come down, as from a source, original, or stock; to
be derived; to proceed by generation or by transmission; to fall or
pass by inheritance; as, the beggar may descend from a prince; a crown
descends to the heir.
(v. i.) To move toward the south, or to the southward.
(v. i.) To fall in pitch; to pass from a higher to a lower
tone.
(v. t.) To go down upon or along; to pass from a higher to a
lower part of; as, they descended the river in boats; to descend a
ladder.
