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Tending to descend; tending downwards; descending. Smart.

The act of descending, or passing downward; change of place from higher to lower.

From a higher to a lower position, literally or figuratively; in a descending direction; from the top of an ascent; from an upright position; to the ground or floor; to or into a lower or an inferior condition; as, into a state of humility, disgrace, misery, and the like; into a state of rest; -- used with verbs indica…

Declivous; descending; sloping. "A downhill greensward." Congrewe.

Descending from a head, origin, or source; as, a downward line of descent.

From a higher place to a lower; in a descending course; as, to tend, move, roll, look, or take root, downward or downwards. "Looking downwards." Pope. Their heads they downward bent. Drayton.

The act of falling; a dropping or descending be the force of gravity; descent; as, a fall from a horse, or from the yard of ship.

Stairs descending to a river; a landing place; a wharf. [India] Malcom.

rcy; characterized by grace; beneficent; merciful; disposed to show kindness or favor; condescending; as, his most gracious majesty. A god ready to pardon, gracious and merciful. Neh. ix. 17. So hallowed and so gracious in the time. Shak.

A diatonic ascending or descending succession of chords.

A graded ascending, descending, or level portion of a road; a gradient.

Rising or descending by regular degrees of inclination; as, the gradient line of a railroad.

hes of trees or other plants; wreaths; -- usually in the plural. In that soft season when descending showers Call forth the greens, and wake the rising flowers. Pope.

Descended, or capable of descending, from an ancestor to an heir at law; received or passing by inheritance, or that must pass by inheritance; as, an hereditary estate or crown.

nk-marriage to one daughter were, after the death of the ancestor, blended with the lands descending to her and to her sisters from the same ancestor, and then divided in equal portions among all the daughters. In modern usage, a mixing together, or throwing into a common mass or stock, of the estate left by a person d…

on of ancestors or descand ants of a given person; a family or race; as, the ascending or descending line; the line of descent; the male line; a line of kings. Of his lineage am I, and his offspring By very line, as of the stock real. Chaucer.

Descent in a line from a common progenitor; progeny; race; descending line of offspring or ascending line of parentage. Both the lineage and the certain sire From which I sprung, from me are hidden yet. Spenser.

Descending in a direct line from an ancestor; hereditary; derived from ancestors; -- opposed to collateral; as, a lineal descent or a lineal descendant. The prime and ancient right of lineal succession. Locke.

oth the sixth and the seventh are sometimes made major in the ascending, and minor in the descending, scale, thus: --See Major. -- Minor term of syllogism (Logic), the subject of the conclusion.

Of or pertaining to the setting sun; falling; descending; western.