1with object Go up or climb.

1. 1.1 Climb to the summit of (a mountain or hill)
   the first traveller to ascend the mountain

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Each year, thousands of devotees ascend the mountain at midnight under a full moon, chanting mantras, to offer their gifts to the ancestral spirits.
   • The coyote slowly ascended the mountain, sweat glistening on his brow, his thoughts lost in the events of the previous day.
   • Back then we had planned to ascend the mountain in traditional style, positioning camps as we climbed, and we had established Camp One at about 19,000 feet.
   • As he ascended the mountain, he was surrounded by thousands of his companions reciting the talbiyah and the takbir.
   • This meant that in a 43-year period, 61 Chinese mountaineers have ascended the peak on 14 occasions.
   • The climbers will ascend the mountains of Ben Nevis in Scotland, Scafell Pike in England and Snowdon in Wales as part of their trek.
   • She slowly ascended the little hill, and reached the back porch.
   • We ascended the hill and passed through Montmartre, a little touristy but still very picturesque.
   • Now he and the inner circle of disciples ascend the mountain.
   • The emotional turmoil naturally accompanying Jotham's situation inspired him to ascend the hill and shout to the men of Shechem to listen to his story.
   • We began to ascend the hill and for a while we had to concentrate on nothing more than the slippery climb.
   • As we ascended a rolling mountain, a man crossed the road ahead of the bus and waved the driver over.
   • Those who ascend the summit of the mountain are rewarded with unparalleled views of the majestic Mt. Kilimanjaro and the Rift Valleys.
   • As Clyde ascended the mountain, the sky began to clear.
   • Moses ascends the mountain, talks with Yahweh, and comes back with clay tablets.
   • However, a botanist who climbed many peaks in Colorado, Edwin James, ascended the mountain in 1820.
   • On our mountain safari we ascend spectacular mountain passes, traverse hairpin bends, rolling green hills and dramatic and awe-inspiring sandstone cliffs.
   • To that end, Mount Eerie is a five-song story cycle about a boy who is born, greets the sun, ascends a mountain, dies, and then has a massive, post-mortem revelation.
   • The trapper had seen enough wolves with their packs during his life to know one when he saw it, and stayed far from the baron and his entourage of eighty men, even as they ascended the mountain.
   • A tide of men and women flowed in their direction, everyone ascending the hill.
2. 1.2 (of a fish or boat) move upstream along (a river)
   salmon ascend rivers from the sea to spawn

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Our plan was to find a guide with a boat, then ascend 20 miles up the Río Jaqué to the heart of the national park.
   • Reloading their canoes, they ascended the Jefferson River, each captain with a portion of the expedition party.
   • In early spring 1837, the steamboat St. Peter's left St. Louis to ascend the Missouri River in time to capitalize on the year's fur trading season.
   • Adults enter the Columbia River in June and July, ascending the river at about 13 miles per day.
   • fish of the genus Alosa in the herring family, normally live in the sea but ascend rivers in the spring to spawn; and that is when they are caught and are at their best for eating.
   • He was no longer planning to ascend hundreds of miles up the Missouri River before winter.
   • These fish were probably in the vicinity ‘picking off’ the salmon as they were about to ascend the River Wear to spawn.

2no object Rise or move up through the air.

1. 2.1 (of a road or flight of steps) slope or lead up.
   the road ascends to the loch

   Example sentencesExamples

   • The road becomes a gravel track and begins to ascend through silver birch as the hills start closing in.
   • The path is slippery and ascends into a narrow valley.
   • The stairs would do any Scarlett O'Hara justice in that the first landing leads to a bathroom, then ascends by a further five steps to the first bedroom.
   • Leading up to the lobby, its glass doors proudly displaying the Union symbol in frosted white, was a wide flight of steps, ascending gently from the sidewalk.
   • The road was beginning to ascend now, the landscape dotted with pine trees.
   • The sea caverns went on for many miles, gently sloping upward and finally ascending into an open air cave somewhere on the Alaskan coastline.
   • After Kallar, the track ascends into the mountains hugging the verdant slopes.
   • Mary Lipsett had warned us that the road would deteriorate as it ascended into the range - Mary was right.
   • This crest ascended more gently than the sides of the ridge, leading us to broader, more open country that rises steadily but not steeply toward the peak.
   • The steep path ascends from here to the high point of the circuit, Dale Head.
   • Making our way up the gently ascending road that cut its way through the forest, we saw hordes of greedy monkeys waiting for freebies.
   • During the summer he takes visitors up the tower's 134 spiral stone steps, but the staircase narrows and the headroom reduces as it ascends and people have to stoop for the final few yards.
   • As the road ascends from the green covered hillside to the cactus covered plains, it quickly gets colder, especially as it approaches the snow-capped mountains at around 5,000 metres.
   • The stairs ascend in three flights to a wide hallway on the second floor, which gives the house its name.
   • The climb ascended through a tight forest, green from canopy to floor.
   • As the trek ascends and descends on a switchback ascent, an ever-present extra hazard is high-altitude sickness brought about by the ‘thinning’ air
   • Climbing this leads to the base of an unstable boulder slope which ascends into Cape Kennedy Chamber with its impressive array of stalagmites.
2. 2.2 Move up to a higher social or professional rank.
   some executives ascend to top-level positions

   Example sentencesExamples

   • She ascended quickly, rising above the levels of middle management right to the executive levels.
   • In what ways can players ascend in rank and acquire more powerful ships?
   • As these groups arrived and settled amongst different regions and in different social strata, those with European origins quickly ascended on the social scale.
   • By racing, players can ascend in level and rank to build up their reputation and weekly in-game salary.
   • Who knows, one of them could ascend the ranks into the highest levels of ballet!
   • They ascend the academic ranks and make important policy decisions for divisions, departments, faculties, and the community.
   • When your rock band implodes prematurely, cutting short a career that was still ascending after four full-lengths, don't you just have to believe in life after death, kind of?
   • But in terms of a career, somebody ascending up some ladder, that's not something I've experienced at all - largely because I decided to become a freelance writer.
   • As in the lines-of-business, actors in the studio stock system could ascend through the ranks, from extra to lead.
   • Paradoxically, this decline in academic opportunities for research is occurring just as ‘women have finally begun to ascend the ranks’.
   • As she ascended through the angelic ranks and was granted more power, Paris would have more energy, and she would learn how to conserve that energy.
   • The answer would seem obvious, especially for managers who have ascended through the ranks.
   • Instead he moved straight into the family firm, ascending the ranks as he grew older.
   • The hierarchy is a strict queue, meaning that members of the queue ascend in rank only when an individual in front of them dies.
   • In addition, there are bit players and extras, who may or may not ascend through the ranks to become stars or character actors.
   • All we had wanted to do was make an appearance, and maybe then we'd be able to ascend the social hierarchy at school.
   • She ascends the ranks through her own skill and the misfortunes of other dancers, but never achieves a status so lofty that she can afford to quit her waitressing job at night.
   • Nomaga had become something of an enigmatic legend in the School, as he had ascended ranks faster than the vast majority could lay claim to.
   • Though it was too late for him to become an Acolyte, this would insure that he would ascend through the ranks quickly.
   • Whoever has access to the financial means available to the opposition is able to ascend socially.
3. 2.3ascend to/into heaven (of a spiritual being or soul) go to heaven.
   the Prophet ascended to heaven

   Example sentencesExamples

   • They would then ascend into heaven in broad daylight, as the Chinese phrase has it.
   • He dies on the spot for his crime, but all see his soul ascend to heaven thanks to Brendan's intercession.
   • Every act of humility, repentance, or honor ascends to heaven and unlocks even more grace from God.
   • Once they have gone past a certain point, they either ascend to heaven or are condemned to hell.
   • Would he ascend to heaven or drop ungraciously to hell?
   • The grieving Rama then ascends to heaven with his followers.
   • On the other hand, there is a mystical advantage to standing at the Western Wall, the spot where all prayers ultimately ascend to heaven.
   • In the Christian religion, according to the priests, the soul takes leave of the body and ascends into heaven.
   • It might ascend to heaven, or descend to hell, go off into some sort of parallel world, or occupy some other body, human or animal.
   • It is said people who have faith in Taoism will ascend to heaven if they climb this stone.
   • No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
   • The mosque is the third holiest site for Muslims and is supposedly the place from where the prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven.
   • The text says nothing about the woman ascending into heaven to acquire a heavenly position.
   • Jewish mystical tradition teaches that all prayers from around the world ascend to the Wall, from where they then ascend to heaven.
   • His feet are several inches from the ground, as if he were levitating like a saint or martyr ascending to heaven.
   • They will give no serious consideration to the claims that Jesus was born of a virgin mother or that he left the tomb and ascended to heaven in his risen body.
   • On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated on the right hand of the Father.
   • One of the sergeants, Maximus, claimed that he saw their spirits ascending to heaven during their executions, and he was then beaten to death.
   • Being engrossed and motionless, she indicated that she saw these souls ascending to heaven.
   • Peter, the apostle perhaps closest in friendship to Jesus, would have been present when the disciples saw Jesus ascend into heaven.
4. 2.4 (of a voice or sound) rise in pitch.
   Carolyn's voice had ascended into high-pitched giggles

   Example sentencesExamples

   • There are 12 pitch classes, and these notes are continually repeated as they ascend in pitch height.
   • Then the same voice, seeming to ascend still higher, cried to me: "Come hither and see!"
   • The song ascends into an atmospheric ending that feels like the swirls that a major crush produces in the center of your chest, spinning color wheels that could burst from your throat at any second.
   • A great, silent cry came from the stone, ascending in pitch until it became almost unbearable.
   • As you ascend, you will feel the voice wanting to shift somewhere around D or E above Middle C.
   • The set begins with repeated root-position chords as triplets, ascending stepwise in C major, and provides the basis for most of the book.
   • The song begins with a haunting keyboard intro, laced with sound effects, and ascends into a bright, airy, romantic ballad with a chant-like quality.
   • Starting on C major, they ascend in pitch utilizing the key signatures that employ no more than four sharps or fiats.
   • Like an Escher print, this is music that seems to ascend infinitely over a nearly twelve-minute span.
   • I switched to a rather dark song, formulated almost entirely of flats and sharps ascending or descending in scales.
   • The melody, ascending into the upper registers for the chorus, punctuates the emotion in the lyrics.
   • This sequence always seems to ascend in pitch, although the first and the last tone is identical.
   • Now, as you ascend higher, try to let the voice be as free from tension as possible.
   • The voice was ascending rapidly up the pitch scale, finally cracking.
   • The savage blankness of the instrumentals is tempered by vocal tracks that ascend like beacons, their brightness amplified by the murky distances between them.