descend
To go or climb down.
descend in a sentence
- The explorers descended slowly into the dark cave, step by careful step, until the daylight vanished above them.
- We watched the seagulls descend towards the harbour, dropping lower until they landed on the masts.
Try an 11+ style question
Verbal reasoning papers often ask about a word like this.
Which word is closest in meaning to descend?
- Adrop
- Bsoar
- Cclimb
- Drise
Show the answer
A: drop. The other three mean the opposite of descend.
Which word is most nearly opposite in meaning to descend?
- Afall
- Bsink
- Cdrop
- Dclimb
Show the answer
D: climb. The other three mean nearly the same as descend.
Words that mean something similar
drop, sink, fall
Words that mean the opposite
climb, rise, soar
More words about movement & action
- devour: To eat something quickly and greedily.
- dexterous: Very skilful and quick with your hands.
- disperse: To scatter and go off in different directions.
- effortless: Done easily, without seeming to try hard at all.
- elevate: To lift something up to a higher position.
- elude: To cleverly escape from or avoid someone.
- embark: To begin a journey or a big new activity.
- emerge: To come out of somewhere and appear.
More words to explore
Sitting the 11+ in Kent, Medway or Buckinghamshire?
Plain-English guides to each test, from the councils’ own pages: Kent Test · Medway Test · Bucks Secondary Transfer Test