descending

1. 1
   adjective

   Moving downward, or sloping toward a lower level.

   The descending road wound between the hills toward the coast.

   The descending aircraft lined up with the runway lights.

   Similardownhill, downward

   Oppositeascending, rising, climbing, uphill

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle of descend.

   Smoke was descending into the valley as the fire burned below.

   The divers kept descending until they reached the wreck.

   Note

   The participle carries both of descend's constructions. With an object it means going down along something (descending the stairs) or leading down it (a path descending the hill). Without one it means simply moving lower (smoke descending into the valley). Astronomy and astrology keep a use for a star or sign descending from the zenith toward the horizon. The causative use, bringing something down, is archaic and best avoided.

3. 3
   adjective

   Arranged so that each element is less than or equal to the one before it.

   The results appear in descending order, with the highest value first.

   We arranged the rankings as a descending sequence of totals.

   Similardecreasing, diminishing

   Oppositeascending, increasing, rising

   Note

   Ties do not break the pattern. Because each item need only be less than or equal to the one before, 9, 7, 7, 3 still counts. The adjective lives mostly in the phrase descending order, usually after in: arrange the numbers in descending order, or in a descending order. When the word names the operation that produces such a list rather than the list itself, it shifts to the sorting sense.

4. 4
   adjective

   Becoming lower in pitch, moving from higher notes toward lower ones.

   The flute played a descending phrase that drifted toward its lowest register.

   Each verse closed with a descending line that settled on the tonic.

   Similardownward

   Oppositeascending, rising

   Note

   Music borrows the spatial picture for pitch. Lower notes are heard as "down," so a melody that drops through the scale is descending even though nothing moves. It pairs naturally with scale, phrase, line and interval. It describes the shape of the melody, not a drop in volume: a descending phrase can grow louder as it falls.

5. 5
   adjective

   Causing a sequence to be arranged so that each element is less than or equal to the previous one.

   The query applied a descending sort, so the most recent entries appeared first.

   Selecting the descending option reordered the table from the highest total downward.

   Oppositeascending

   Note

   In computing the adjective moves from the result to the procedure. A descending sort is one that produces a descending sequence, with the highest value first. It attaches to the words for the operation or its setting, such as sort or option, rather than to the list being arranged. A table is in descending order, but you choose a descending sort to put it there.

6. 6
   noununcountable

   The action or process of moving down to a lower position.

   Like an elevator slowly lowering to the ground floor.

   The descending of the heavy curtain marked the end of the play.

   Their slow descending into the mine shaft made everyone uneasy.

   Similardescent, lowering, fall, drop

   Oppositeascent, rise, raising

   Note

   Unlike the verb form, this noun can be counted and takes a plural, descendings. It tends to keep company with its opposite, as in continual ascendings and descendings, where the plural evokes repeated movement up and down rather than a single trip. For one downward movement, descent is its plain equivalent.

Showing meanings only. Show all 6