as·cend

[uh-send]
verb (used without object)
1.
to move, climb, or go upward; mount; rise: The airplane ascended into the clouds.
2.
to slant upward.
3.
to rise to a higher point, rank, or degree; proceed from an inferior to a superior degree or level: to ascend to the presidency.
4.
to go toward the source or beginning; go back in time.
5.
Music. to rise in pitch; pass from any tone to a higher one.
verb (used with object)
6.
to go or move upward upon or along; climb; mount: to ascend a lookout tower; to ascend stairs.
7.
to gain or succeed to; acquire: to ascend the throne.
00:10
Ascend is one of our favorite verbs.
So is lollygag. Does it mean:
to spend time idly; loaf.
to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly.

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English ascenden < Anglo-French ascendre < Latin ascendere to climb up, equivalent to a- a-5 + -scendere, combining form of scandere to climb. See scan

as·cend·a·ble, as·cend·i·ble, adjective
re·as·cend, verb
un·as·cend·a·ble, adjective
un·as·cend·ed, adjective


1. soar. 6. See climb.


1, 6. descend.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To ascend
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World English Dictionary
ascend (əˈsɛnd) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
vb
1.  to go or move up (a ladder, hill, slope, etc); mount; climb
2.  (intr) to slope or incline upwards
3.  (intr) to rise to a higher point, level, degree, etc
4.  to follow (a river) upstream towards its source
5.  to trace (a genealogy, etc) back in time
6.  to sing or play (a scale, arpeggio, etc) from the lower to higher notes
7.  ascend the throne to become king or queen
 
[C14: from Latin ascendere, from scandere]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

ascend
late 14c., from L. ascendere "to climb up," from ad- "to" + scandere "to climb" (see scan). An O.E. word for it was stigan.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Example sentences
The cycle will ascend to the curators again soon enough if there is money.
People who ascend too high too quickly may experience what is known as acute
  mountain sickness.
Democracies sour when they allow unchecked mentally stable tyrants to ascend to
  power.
Passengers enter through doorways at the center of each car and ascend a
  central stairway to the seating level.
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