Descent - English meaning

noun

A person, typically one more remote than a grandparent, from whom one is descended.

Usage examples:

He could trace his ancestors back to james the first

noun

Any member of your family from long ago, for example, the grandparents of your grandparents

Usage examples:

He returned to ecuador, where his mother’s ancestors lived., he wanted to tour his family's ancestr…

noun

A person related to you who lived a long time ago

Usage examples:

There were portraits of his ancestors on the walls of the room.

noun

One's family or ethnic descent.

Usage examples:

He was proud of his irish ancestry

noun

Your ancestors who lived a long time ago, or the origin of your family

Usage examples:

He was proud of his native american ancestry., his wife was of royal ancestry., the family has trac…

verb

Make a concerted or violent attack on.

Usage examples:

The scots army assailed edward's army from the rear

verb

Present participle of assail

Usage examples:

The victim had been assailed with repeated blows to the head and body., he was assailed with insult…

verb

To attack someone violently or criticize someone strongly

Usage examples:

The victim had been assailed with repeated blows to the head and body., he was assailed with insult…

verb

Make a physical attack on.

Usage examples:

He pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer

noun

A physical attack.

Usage examples:

His imprisonment for an assault on the film director

verb

Attack someone physically or emotionally

verb

Take aggressive military action against (a place or enemy forces) with weapons or armed force.

Usage examples:

In february the germans attacked verdun

noun

An aggressive and violent act against a person or place.

Usage examples:

He was killed in an attack on a checkpoint

verb

An offensive against an enemy

noun

The emergence of a baby or other young from the body of its mother; the start of life as a physically separate being.

Usage examples:

He was blind from birth

verb

Give birth to (a baby or other young).

Usage examples:

She birthed five children within ten years

noun

The time when a baby or young animal comes out of its mother's body

Usage examples:

It was a difficult birth., he weighed eight pounds at birth., more men are present at the births of…

noun

The red liquid that circulates in the arteries and veins of humans and other vertebrate animals, carrying oxygen to and carbon dioxide from the tissues of the body.

Usage examples:

Drops of blood

verb

Initiate (someone) in a particular activity.

Usage examples:

Clubs are too slow to blood young players

noun

A member of a north american people belonging to the blackfoot confederacy.

Usage examples:

Even if charlie had concentrated more on the blackfeet and bloods, the overall look of de yong's wa…

noun

An animal's set of ancestors or pedigree, especially with reference to the desirable characteristics bred into it.

Usage examples:

The herd has british bloodlines going back 200 years

noun

All the members of a family group of people or animals over a period of time, especially when considering their shared family characteristics

Usage examples:

Ismailis believe that a bloodline joins the aga khan to mohammed., this is a pedigree poodle - her …

verb

Demand (an amount) as a price for a service rendered or goods supplied.

Usage examples:

Wedding planners may charge an hourly fee of up to £150

noun

A price asked for goods or services.

Usage examples:

Our standard charge for a letter is £25

noun

An ambassador's deputy.

noun

The action of obtaining something from a source or origin.

Usage examples:

The derivation of scientific laws from observation

noun

The origin from which something developed

Usage examples:

Does anyone know the derivation of the word “ok”?

noun

The origin of something, such as a word, from which another form has developed, or the new form itself

adjective

Moving or sloping downwards.

Usage examples:

A rocky descending path

verb

Move or fall downwards.

Usage examples:

The aircraft began to descend

adjective

Used to refer to a body part that is in a downward direction

Usage examples:

The descending aorta/colon

verb

Plunge head first into water with one's arms raised over one's head.

Usage examples:

She walked to the deep end, then she dived in

noun

A plunge head first into water.

Usage examples:

He hit the sea in a shallow dive

verb

A headlong plunge into water

verb

Operate and control the direction and speed of a motor vehicle.

Usage examples:

He got into his car and drove off

noun

(of a fact or feeling) compel (someone) to act in a particular way, especially one that is considered undesirable or inappropriate.

Usage examples:

He was driven by ambition

verb

To travel in a motor vehicle, esp. as the person who operates it

Usage examples:

[ t ] we drove 40 miles to visit my aunt., [ i ] she drove through pennsylvania to ohio., [ i ] she…

verb

Let or make (something) fall vertically.

Usage examples:

The fire was caused by someone dropping a lighted cigarette

noun

A small round or pear-shaped portion of liquid that hangs or falls or adheres to a surface.

Usage examples:

The first drops of rain splashed on the ground

verb

Let fall to the ground

noun

The action of extracting something, especially using effort or force.

Usage examples:

Mineral extraction

noun

The process of removing or taking out something

Usage examples:

[ c ] a tooth extraction, [ u ] she is of korean extraction.

noun

The process of removing a substance from the ground or from another substance

Usage examples:

The local economy is overwhelmingly dependent on oil and gas extraction., hard-rock mining refers t…

verb

Move from a higher to a lower level, typically rapidly and without control.

Usage examples:

Five inches of snow fell through the night

noun

An act of falling or collapsing.

Usage examples:

His mother had a fall as she alighted from a train

verb

Descend freely under the influence of gravity

noun

A group of one or more parents and their children living together as a unit.

Usage examples:

The family lived in a large house with a lot of land

adjective

Designed to be suitable for children as well as adults.

Usage examples:

A family newspaper

noun

A social group of parents, children, and sometimes grandparents, uncles, aunts, and others who are related

Usage examples:

[ c ] her family moved here when she was eleven., [ u ] many people cope with the demands of both c…

noun

A sudden attack or incursion into enemy territory, especially to obtain something; a raid.

Usage examples:

The garrison made a foray against richard's camp

verb

Make or go on a foray.

Usage examples:

The place into which they were forbidden to foray

noun

A brief attempt at or involvement in an activity outside a person’s or organization’s usual range of activities

Usage examples:

The opera company has made curious forays into contemporary music in recent seasons.

noun

A line of descent traced continuously from an ancestor.

Usage examples:

The genealogies of the kings of mercia

noun

The study of the history of the past and present members of a family, or a particular history of this type

Usage examples:

[ c ] he has produced a genealogy of his family going back to 1732.

noun

(the study of) the history of the past and present members of a family or families

Usage examples:

Genealogy of i became interested in the genealogy of my family.

noun

The passing on of physical or mental characteristics genetically from one generation to another.

Usage examples:

The relative influence of heredity and environment

noun

The natural process by which parents pass on to their children through their genes the characteristics that make them related

noun

The process by which characteristics are given from a parent to their child through the genes

Usage examples:

Diet and exercise can influence a person's weight, but heredity is also a factor.

noun

An invasion or attack, especially a sudden or brief one.

Usage examples:

Incursions into enemy territory

noun

A sudden and unwanted entrance to a place or area controlled by others, esp. in a military attack

noun

A sudden attack on or act of going into a place, especially across a border

Usage examples:

Incursions into enemy territory

noun

A long, narrow mark or band.

Usage examples:

A row of closely spaced dots will look like a continuous line

verb

Stand or be positioned at intervals along.

Usage examples:

A processional route lined by people waving flags

verb

Cover the inside surface of (a container or garment) with a layer of different material.

Usage examples:

A basket lined with polythene

noun

Direct descent from an ancestor; ancestry or pedigree.

Usage examples:

A dutch nobleman of ancient lineage

noun

The members of a person's family who are directly related to that person and who lived a long time before him or her

Usage examples:

She's very proud of her ancient royal lineage.

noun

A fierce or destructive attack.

Usage examples:

A series of onslaughts on the citadel

noun

A violent and forceful attack

Usage examples:

Fig. with the nice weather, the beach towns are expecting an onslaught of tourists.

noun

The point or place where something begins, arises, or is derived.

Usage examples:

His theory of the origin of life

noun

The thing from which something comes, or the place where it began

Usage examples:

[ c ] the origins of language, [ u ] he studied the origin and development of the nervous system., …

noun

The beginning or cause of something

Usage examples:

The origins of this practice date back to the time of the depression., whether entrepreneurs are se…

noun

The point or place where something begins, arises, or is derived.

Usage examples:

His theory of the origin of life

phrase

Used to describe the particular way in which something started to exist or someone started their life

Usage examples:

The story has obscure origins (= no one knows how it started)., the president's family was of humbl…

noun

The identity and origins of one's parents.

Usage examples:

A boy of jamaican parentage

noun

One’s parents or origins

Usage examples:

She’s of puerto rican parentage.

noun

The record of descent of an animal, showing it to be pure-bred.

Usage examples:

They are looking for animals with pedigrees

adjective

(of an animal) pure-bred.

Usage examples:

Pedigree cats

noun

The parents and other family members of a particular animal, or a record of them

Usage examples:

A dog’s pedigree, populism and conservatism have strong southern pedigrees.

noun

The quality of a sound governed by the rate of vibrations producing it; the degree of highness or lowness of a tone.

Usage examples:

Her voice rose steadily in pitch

verb

Set (one's voice or a piece of music) at a particular pitch.

Usage examples:

You've pitched the melody very high

verb

Cover, coat, or smear with pitch.

Usage examples:

He pitched the ship inside and outside

verb

Exert force on (someone or something) in order to move them away from oneself.

Usage examples:

She pushed her glass towards him

noun

An act of pushing someone or something in order to move them away from oneself.

Usage examples:

He closed the door with a push

verb

Move with force, "he pushed the table into a corner"

noun

A rapid surprise attack on an enemy by troops, aircraft, or other armed forces.

Usage examples:

A bombing raid

verb

Conduct a raid on.

Usage examples:

Officers raided thirty homes yesterday

abbreviation

Redundant array of independent (or inexpensive) disks, a system for providing greater capacity, faster access, and security against data corruption by spreading data across several disk drives.

noun

The part of a plant which attaches it to the ground or to a support, typically underground, conveying water and nourishment to the rest of the plant via numerous branches and fibres.

Usage examples:

Cacti have deep and spreading roots

verb

Cause (a plant or cutting) to grow roots.

Usage examples:

Root your own cuttings from stock plants

noun

An act of rooting.

Usage examples:

I had a root through the open drawers

noun

A sudden charge out of a besieged place against the enemy; a sortie.

Usage examples:

The garrison there made a sally against us

verb

Make a military sortie.

Usage examples:

They sallied out to harass the enemy

noun

The part of a bell rope that has coloured wool woven into it to provide a grip for the bell-ringer's hands.

Usage examples:

There are two parts to the bell rope – the tail and the soft sally, which are pulled alternately to…

verb

Go down below the surface of something, especially of a liquid; become submerged.

Usage examples:

He saw the coffin sink below the surface of the waves

noun

A fixed basin with a water supply and outflow pipe.

Usage examples:

I stood at the kitchen sink

noun

A pool or marsh in which a river's water disappears by evaporation or percolation.

Usage examples:

Once again, however, rumours of caves higher on the hillside and far off river sinks abound.

verb

Sit, lean, or fall heavily and limply.

Usage examples:

She slumped against the cushions

noun

A sudden severe or prolonged fall in the price, value, or amount of something.

Usage examples:

A slump in profits

verb

To fall heavily and suddenly

Usage examples:

She slumped to the floor in a faint., the old man slumped in his chair, asleep., we both slumped ag…

noun

An attack made by troops coming out from a position of defence.

Usage examples:

Their sortie netted the two machineguns and eight prisoners.

verb

Come out from a defensive position to make an attack.

Usage examples:

We'll soon know if they sortie

noun

The goods or merchandise kept on the premises of a shop or warehouse and available for sale or distribution.

Usage examples:

The store has a very low turnover of stock

adjective

(of a product or type of product) usually kept in stock and thus regularly available for sale.

Usage examples:

25 per cent off stock items

verb

Have or keep a supply of (a particular product or type or product) available for sale.

Usage examples:

Most supermarkets now stock a range of organic produce

noun

The sudden forceful attack and capture of a building or other place by troops.

Usage examples:

The storming of the bastille

adjective

(of a performance, especially in sport or music) outstandingly vigorous or impressive.

Usage examples:

His storming finish carried him into third place

verb

Move angrily or forcefully in a specified direction.

Usage examples:

She burst into tears and stormed off

verb

Force (a part of one's body or oneself) to make an unusually great effort.

Usage examples:

I stopped and listened, straining my ears for any sound

noun

A force tending to pull or stretch something to an extreme or damaging degree.

Usage examples:

The usual type of chair puts an enormous strain on the spine

noun

A particular breed, stock, or variety of an animal or plant.

Usage examples:

Australia has been trying to breed better strains of plants and animals for ever.

verb

Become less intense, violent, or severe.

Usage examples:

I'll wait a few minutes until the storm subsides

verb

Present participle of subside

Usage examples:

The police are hoping that the violence will soon subside., as the pain in my foot subsided, i was …

noun

A number of people or things of a similar kind following one after the other.

Usage examples:

She had been secretary to a succession of board directors

noun

A series of things coming one after another

Usage examples:

[ c ] a succession of scandals, [ u ] in rapid succession he lost his job, his wife, and his health…

noun

A number of similar people or events that exist or happen one after another

Usage examples:

A succession of sth the company has been involved in a succession of accounting scandals., they emp…

verb

Push suddenly or violently in a specified direction.

Usage examples:

She thrust her hands into her pockets

noun

A sudden or violent lunge with a pointed weapon or a bodily part.

Usage examples:

He drove the blade upwards with one powerful thrust

verb

To push suddenly and strongly

Usage examples:

[ t ] she thrust the money into his hand., [ i ] he thrust at me with a stick., [ c ] a sword thrus…