ascended; ascending; ascends
1
a
: to move upward
the balloon ascended
b
: to slope upward
The path ascends through the woods.
c
: to conduct nerve impulses toward or to the brain
an ascending somatosensory pathway
2
a
: to rise from a lower level or degree
ascend to power
b
: to go back in time or in order of genealogical succession
c
: to pass from lower to higher musical notes
C – E ascending
1
: to go or move up
ascend a staircase
2
: to succeed to : occupy
ascend the throne
Examples of ascend in a Sentence
They watched their balloons slowly ascend into the sky.
Divers must not ascend too rapidly to the water's surface.
She believed that when she died, her soul would ascend to heaven.
Several paths ascend to the top of the mountain.
stairs ascending to the attic
John Adams ascended to the presidency in 1797.
She worked as a clerk before ascending to her current position.
Recent Examples on the Web
Daredevil, aka the blind lawyer Matt Murdock, faced off against Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk, aka the Kingpin, who ascended to mayor of New York City.
—
Jordan Moreau, Variety, 11 Oct. 2025
As Adolf Hitler and the Nazis rose to power, Rudolph quickly ascended through the ranks.
—Johnny Dodd, PEOPLE, 11 Oct. 2025
The stretch of road, from about 39th to 65th Street, runs north of the building rooftop from which the helicopter had ascended, through East Sacramento and past Sacramento State into the foothills.
—Jake Goodrick, Sacbee.com, 11 Oct. 2025
Before Nvidia became the world’s most valuable company, before its CEO, Jensen Huang, ascended to mononym fame, before the launch of ChatGPT sparked a gold rush for its chips, Tom Dalton was in the chipmaker’s stock.
—Kevin Stankiewicz, CNBC, 10 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ascend
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Jordan Moreau, Variety, 11 Oct. 2025
As Adolf Hitler and the Nazis rose to power, Rudolph quickly ascended through the ranks.
—Johnny Dodd, PEOPLE, 11 Oct. 2025
The stretch of road, from about 39th to 65th Street, runs north of the building rooftop from which the helicopter had ascended, through East Sacramento and past Sacramento State into the foothills.
—Jake Goodrick, Sacbee.com, 11 Oct. 2025
Before Nvidia became the world’s most valuable company, before its CEO, Jensen Huang, ascended to mononym fame, before the launch of ChatGPT sparked a gold rush for its chips, Tom Dalton was in the chipmaker’s stock.
—Kevin Stankiewicz, CNBC, 10 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ascend
Cite this Entry
“Ascend.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ascend. Accessed 12 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
ascend
verb
as·cend
ə-ˈsend 
Medical Definition
ascend
intransitive verb
as·cend
ə-ˈsend
: to move upward: as
a
: to conduct nerve impulses toward or to the brain
nerve fibers that ascend to a nucleus of the brain
ascending and descending tracts
b
: to affect the extremities and especially the lower limbs first and then the central nervous system
ascending paralysis
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