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.