The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Ascent \As*cent"\ [Formed like descent, as if from a F. ascente,
   fr. a verb ascendre, fr. L. ascendere. See Ascend,
   Descent.]
   1. The act of rising; motion upward; rise; a mounting upward;
      as, he made a tedious ascent; the ascent of vapors from
      the earth.
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            To him with swift ascent he up returned. --Milton.
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   2. The way or means by which one ascends.
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   3. An eminence, hill, or high place. --Addison.
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   4. The degree of elevation of an object, or the angle it
      makes with a horizontal line; inclination; rising grade;
      as, a road has an ascent of five degrees.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

ascent
    n 1: an upward slope or grade (as in a road); "the car couldn't
         make it up the rise" [syn: ascent, acclivity, rise,
         raise, climb, upgrade] [ant: declension,
         declination, decline, declivity, descent,
         downslope, fall]
    2: a movement upward; "they cheered the rise of the hot-air
       balloon" [syn: rise, rising, ascent, ascension] [ant:
       fall]
    3: the act of changing location in an upward direction [syn:
       rise, ascent, ascension, ascending]