descending

1. 1
   adjective

   Going down, or sloping toward a lower place.

   Like a ball rolling down a hill.

   The descending path took us down into the valley.

   We watched the descending balloon drift slowly to the ground.

   Similardownhill, downward

   Oppositeascending, rising, climbing, uphill

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle of descend. Use it for going down while it is happening.

   The plane was descending toward the airport through thick clouds.

   We are descending the staircase to the basement now.

   Note
3. 3
   adjective

   Arranged so each item is the same as or smaller than the one before it.

   Like stairs going down: each step is lower than the last.

   The numbers were listed in descending order, from biggest to smallest.

   She sorted the test scores into a descending list.

   Similardecreasing, diminishing

   Oppositeascending, increasing, rising

   Note
4. 4
   adjective

   Going down in pitch, from higher notes to lower ones.

   Like a voice sliding slowly from high to low.

   The singer ended on a descending note that faded into silence.

   A descending melody gave the song a sad feeling.

   Similardownward

   Oppositeascending, rising

   Note
5. 5
   adjective

   Making a list go from the largest value down to the smallest.

   Like stacking blocks with the biggest on top and the smallest at the bottom.

   Apply a descending sort to show the top sellers first.

   She set the column to descending so the biggest numbers came first.

   Oppositeascending

   Note
6. 6
   noununcountable

   The act of going down from a higher place to a lower one.

   Like walking all the way down a long staircase to the bottom.

   The descending took nearly two hours in the dark.

   After the long descending, they rested at the foot of the cliff.

   Similardescent, lowering, fall, drop

   Oppositeascent, rise, raising

   Note

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