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To sing the notes of the gamut, ascending or descending; as, do or ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si, do, or the same in reverse order. Yet can I neither solfe ne sing. Piers Plowman.

A male descendant, however distant; hence, in the plural, descendants in general. I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings. Isa. xix. 11. I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Mal. iii. 6.

Filthy; foul; dirty. [Obs.] A sordid god; down from his hoary chin A length of beard descends, uncombed, unclean. Dryden.

urally visible; an apparition; a ghost; a phantom. The ghosts of traitors from the bridge descend, With bold fanatic specters to rejoice. Dryden.

One step of a series for ascending or descending to a different level; -- commonly applied to those within a building.

; station; standing. Father, since your fortune did attain So high a stand, I mean not to descend. Daniel.

e of his misfortunes. Bacon. Can this imperious lord forget to reign, Quit all his state, descend, and serve again Pope.

Making a large angle with the plane of the horizon; ascending or descending rapidly with respect to a horizontal line or a level; precipitous; as, a steep hill or mountain; a steep roof; a steep ascent; a steep declivity; a steep barometric gradient.

A rest, or one of a set of rests, for the foot in ascending or descending, as a stair, or a round of a ladder. The breadth of every single step or stair should be never less than one foot. Sir H. Wotton.

A step, or set of steps, for ascending and descending, in passing a fence or wall. There comes my master . . . over the stile, this way. Shak. Over this stile in the way to Doubting Castle. Bunyan.

progenitor; also, the race or line of a family; the progenitor of a family and his direct descendants; lineage; family. And stand betwixt them made, when, severally, All told their stock. Chapman. Thy mother was no goddess, nor thy stock From Dardanus. Denham.

A long garment, descending to the ankles, worn by Roman women. The stola was not allowed to be worn by courtesans, or by women who had been divorced from their husbands. Fairholt.

States, the narrow shelf fitted on the inside against the actual sill upon which the sash descends. This is called a window seat when broad and low enough to be used as a seat. Stool of repentance, the cuttystool. [Scot.] -- Stool pigeon, a pigeon used as a decoy to draw others within a net; hence, a person used as a d…

To descend from rank or dignity; to condescend. "She stoops to conquer." Goldsmith. Where men of great wealth stoop to husbandry, it multiplieth riches exceedingly. Bacon.

A direct descending blow with the edge of a sword. [Obs.] B. Jonson.

To tend downward; to become lower; to descend; to sink. "Heaven's subsiding hill." Dryden.

To descend, as an estate or an heirloom, in the same family; to devolve. Shak.

An order or series of descendants; lineage; race; descent. "A long succession must ensue." Milton.

To fall or descend; to rush hastily or violently. C. Richardson (Dict.). All suddenly she swapt adown to ground. Chaucer.

To brush against or over; to rub lightly along. Their long descending train, With rubies edged and sapphires, swept the plain. Dryden.