1. To move from a higher to a lower place; to come or to go down: People were waiting for the elevator to descend from the 5th to the 1st floor.
2. To slope, to extend, or to incline downward: The visitors descended down to the river on the path.
3. To come from an ancestor or ancestry: Hank said he was descended from a pioneer family.
4. To come down from a source; to derive: The traditions of some people have descended from ancient customs.
5. To pass by inheritance: Mack's house is said to have descended through four generations.
6. To proceed or to progress downward, as in rank, pitch, or scale: The various states of America on the list are descending according to their populations.
7. To arrive or to attack in a sudden or an overwhelming manner: The summer tourists are suddenly descending on the seashore village.

Tetanus in which muscle spasms occur first in the head and neck and later are manifested in other muscles of the body.