# descending

Pronunciation: US say "di-SEN-ding" /dɪˈsɛn.dɪŋ/; UK

## Adjective

1. Moving downward, or sloping toward a lower level.
   - Simple: Going down, or sloping toward a lower place.
   - _The descending road wound between the hills toward the coast._
   - _The descending aircraft lined up with the runway lights._
3. Arranged so that each element is less than or equal to the one before it.
   - Simple: Arranged so each item is the same as or smaller than 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._
4. Becoming lower in pitch, moving from higher notes toward lower ones.
   - Simple: Going down in pitch, from higher notes to 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._
5. Causing a sequence to be arranged so that each element is less than or equal to the previous one.
   - Simple: Making a list go from the largest value down to the smallest.
   - _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._

## Verb

2. Present participle of descend. — present participle and gerund of descend
   - Simple: Present participle of descend. Use it for going down while it is happening.
   - _Smoke was descending into the valley as the fire burned below._
   - _The divers kept descending until they reached the wreck._

## Noun

6. The action or process of moving down to a lower position.
   - Simple: The act of going down from a higher place to a lower one.
   - _The descending of the heavy curtain marked the end of the play._
   - _Their slow descending into the mine shaft made everyone uneasy._

## Origin

Formed from "descend" combined with the suffix "-ing".

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/descending (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).