How to use descend in a sentence

40 example sentences · verb, noun

Descend means to pass from a higher to a lower part of (something, such as a flight of stairs or a slope); to go down along or upon. Example: “The noble prince descended to one knee to ask for the princess’s hand in marriage.”

Examples of descend by meaning

verbTo pass from a higher to a lower part of (something, such as a flight of stairs or a slope); to go down along or upon.

they descended the river in boats
to descend a ladder
The noble prince descended to one knee to ask for the princess’s hand in marriage.

verbOf a flight of stairs, a road, etc.: to lead down (a hill, a slope, etc.).

They took the steep path that descends the hill down to the beach.
Soon after Crowhurst, the down grade steepens to 1 in 100 as the line descends the side of a valley, at the mouth of which a glimpse of the sea can be caught—the only one.1957 August, H. P. White, “The Tonbridge-Hastings Line and its Traffic”, in Railway Magazine, page 528

verbTo physically move or pass from a higher to a lower place or position; to come or go down in any way, such as by...

Rudy felt a gust of fear rise in his chest, and he looked again in the mirror, but the hangar and stable were now beyond the rise, out of sight, he was descending so fast.2001 May, John Griesemer, chapter 20, in No One Thinks of Greenland, New York, N.Y.: Picador, →ISBN, page 187

verbOf a body part: to move downwards, especially during development of the embryo; specifically, of the testes of a...

Cryptorchidism is the failure of one or both testes to descend into the scrotum.

verbChiefly followed by into or to: of a situation: to become worse; to decline, to deteriorate.

The meeting descended into chaos.

verbChiefly followed by on or upon: to make an attack or incursion, from or as if from a vantage ground; to come suddenly...

I suffer at times from damp snivelling colds in the head, which descend upon me quite suddenly, turning me into a helpless and disgusting red-nosed and red-eyed animal feebly crying for still more handkerchiefs.1934, J[ohn] B[oynton] Priestley, “To the Tyne”, in English Journey […], London: William Heinemann in association with Victor Gollancz...

verbChiefly followed by on or upon: to arrive suddenly or unexpectedly, especially in a manner that causes disruption or...

My neighbour descended upon me just as I was walking out the door.

verbTo come down to a humbler or less fortunate, or a worse or less virtuous, rank or state; to abase or lower oneself; to...

He descended from his high estate.

More sentences with descend

The grid column header displays a sort glyph indicating an ascending or descending ordering.From the entry glyph
All Indo-European languages from Albanian to Zazaki are descended from Proto-Indo-European.From the entry proto-
(Malaysia, specifically) a member of the Malaysian Siamese community, an ethnic group descended from Thais.From the entry Siamese
What was that tackle about? The red mist still descends on Beckham occasionally.From the entry red mist
I sat at the top of the cliff and played out the rope as she descended.From the entry play out
The Israelite priests were descended from Moses' brother Aaron.From the entry priest
You'll hit some nasty thunderstorms if you descend too late.From the entry hit
The arrow descended in a curved line.From the entry line
The online discussion quickly descended into toxicity.From the entry toxicity
Please arrange these numbers in a descending order.From the entry descending
The varietal Merlot has rich red color and a robust fruity taste. Cabernet Sauvignon is a varietal that descended from Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc.From the entry varietal
The priest argued to the king that unless clerics accompanied the colony ship, the colony would soon descend into heathendom and barbarity.From the entry heathendom
The red junglefowl is said to be the original “chicken” from which all domestic chickens are descended, based on comments and observations made by Darwin.From the entry junglefowl
That was during the gold fever, when strangers descended on the town and all the shovels were plum sold out at the general store.From the entry gold fever
Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.From the entry baptizeth
"The train pulled up at a small wayside station, and we all descended.2026 April 1, Vitali Vitaliev, “Literature on the track”, in RAIL, number 1058, page 68. From the entry cob
The race descended into a brutal slugfest as the leading candidates, the author-turned-venture capitalist J.D.2022 April 30, Jonathan Weisman, Trip Gabriel, “Once Soft-Spoken, Ohio Conservatives Embrace the Bombast”, in The New York Times, →ISSN. From the entry slugfest
They descended by the tens of thousands on Britain’s southern beaches and jammed into city parks.2020 June 26, Ceylan Yeginsu, “Lockdown? What Lockdown? Heat Wave Brings Britons Out in Droves”, in The New York Times, →ISSN. From the entry cavort
He designed the original brain from which all other brains descended after its kind.2020 January 28, Robert, “Evolution is blind faith.”, in alt.christnet.christianlife (Usenet), retrieved 20 May 2022. From the entry xbreeding
We are a unique race.” “Do their peoples descend from yours?” “Maybe.2018, Austin Dragon, Comes the War Wizards' Wrath: Fabled Quest Chronicles (Book 3), Well-Tailored Books, →ISBN. From the entry dwelf
Silver and black jetpacked police personnel descended from the dark sky around the men.2017, Austin Dragon, NeuroDancer, Well-Tailored Books, →ISBN. From the entry jetpacked
The bloat descended rapidly and Shimbaka only had seconds to swing up into the tree with Bakvissie.2016, David Chandler, Shaman of New York, page 200. From the entry bloat
When he spotted Natalie descending the staircase, he begged her to try the elevator.2016, Susan Wolf Johnson, King Daniel: Gasparilla King of the Pirates. From the entry hummer
It can also be heard calling a "chig-chig" series of notes in a descending chuckle.2016 February 18, “Species Spotlight: Red-bellied woodpecker”, in Poughkeepsie Journal, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.: Gannett Co., Inc., →OCLC…. From the entry chig
All gangstalkers then suddenly descend upon the target as a mob.2015 March 19, Renee Pittman, The Targeting of Myron May: Florida State University Gunman: Asst. DA Pushed Over the Edge (Mind Control…. From the entry gangstalker
In Spain, whenever I recharged, I had descended into a dark blanket of nothingness.2014, Matt Haig, Echo Boy, page 247. From the entry unsleep
He had not known a mood more sombre to have previously descended on the room.2012, Peter Turnbull, Aftermath, Severn House Publishers Ltd, →ISBN. From the entry sombre
My mouth went dry and a sallow feeling descended upon me.2012, Dr. James Kennedy, The Baywood Tales, page 17. From the entry sallow
In Anglo-Saxon mythology, kings were descended from Wotan, or Odin, the high god of the Teutonic pantheon.2012, Ian Bradley, God Save the Queen: The Spiritual Heart of the Monarchy, A&C Black, →ISBN, page 70. From the entry Wotan

Meaning of descend

verb To pass from a higher to a lower part of (something, such as a flight of stairs or a slope); to go down along or upon.
verb Of a flight of stairs, a road, etc.: to lead down (a hill, a slope, etc.).
verb To move (someone or something) from a higher to a lower place or position; to bring or send (someone or something) down.

Full definition of descend

Questions about descend in a sentence

How do you use descend in a sentence?: Descend is used as a verb and noun. For example: “The noble prince descended to one knee to ask for the princess’s hand in marriage.”
What is a short sentence with descend?: “to descend a ladder”
What does descend mean?: Descend means to pass from a higher to a lower part of (something, such as a flight of stairs or a slope); to go down along or upon.

Adapted from Wiktionary: descend (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use descend in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/descend. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.