{
    "term": "descend",
    "partOfSpeech": "verb",
    "ox5000": true,
    "cefr": "c1",
    "verbForms": {
        "presentSimple": {
            "iYouWeThey": "descend",
            "heSheIt": "descends"
        },
        "pastSimple": "descended",
        "pastParticiple": "descended",
        "ingForm": "descending"
    },
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "to come or go down from a higher to a lower level",
            "sensetop": "descend something",
            "labels": "(formal)",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The plane began to descend."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The results, ranked **in descending order** *(= from the highest to the lowest)* are as follows…"
                },
                {
                    "text": "She descended the stairs slowly.",
                    "contextForm": "descend something"
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "adverb": ["quickly", "rapidly", "slowly"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "to slope downwards",
            "labels": "(formal)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "At this point the path descends steeply."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "adverb": ["steeply", "gently", "gradually"],
                "preposition": ["into", "to"],
                "phrases": [
                    "descend into chaos",
                    "descend into farce",
                    "descend into madness"
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "to arrive and begin to affect somebody/something",
            "sensetop": "descend on/upon somebody/something",
            "labels": "(literary)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Night descends quickly in the tropics."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Calm descended on the crowd.",
                    "contextForm": "descend on/upon somebody/something"
                }
            ],
            "synonyms": "fall"
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/dɪˈsend/",
                "audio": "de/descend/descend__gb_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/dɪˈsendz/",
                "audio": "de/descend/descends__gb_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/dɪˈsendɪd/",
                "audio": "de/descend/descended__gb_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/dɪˈsendɪŋ/",
                "audio": "de/descend/descending__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/dɪˈsend/",
                "audio": "de/descend/descend__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/dɪˈsendz/",
                "audio": "de/descend/descends__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/dɪˈsendɪd/",
                "audio": "de/descend/descended__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/dɪˈsendɪŋ/",
                "audio": "de/descend/descending__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "Middle English: from Old French descendre, from Latin descendere, from de- ‘down’ + scandere ‘to climb’."
}