The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Descend \De*scend"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Descended; p. pr. &
   vb. n. Descending.] [F. descendre, L. descendere,
   descensum; de- + scandere to climb. See Scan.]
   1. To pass from a higher to a lower place; to move downwards;
      to come or go down in any way, as by falling, flowing,
      walking, etc.; to plunge; to fall; to incline downward; --
      the opposite of ascend.
      [1913 Webster]

            The rain descended, and the floods came. --Matt.
                                                  vii. 25.
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            We will here descend to matters of later date.
                                                  --Fuller.
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   2. To enter mentally; to retire. [Poetic]
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            [He] with holiest meditations fed,
            Into himself descended.               --Milton.
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   3. To make an attack, or incursion, as if from a vantage
      ground; to come suddenly and with violence; -- with on or
      upon.
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            And on the suitors let thy wrath descend. --Pope.
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   4. To come down to a lower, less fortunate, humbler, less
      virtuous, or worse, state or station; to lower or abase
      one's self; as, he descended from his high estate.
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   5. To pass from the more general or important to the
      particular or less important matters to be considered.
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   6. To come down, as from a source, original, or stock; to be
      derived; to proceed by generation or by transmission; to
      fall or pass by inheritance; as, the beggar may descend
      from a prince; a crown descends to the heir.
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   7. (Anat.) To move toward the south, or to the southward.
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   8. (Mus.) To fall in pitch; to pass from a higher to a lower
      tone.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Descend \De*scend"\, v. t.
   To go down upon or along; to pass from a higher to a lower
   part of; as, they descended the river in boats; to descend a
   ladder.
   [1913 Webster]

         But never tears his cheek descended.     --Byron.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

descend
    v 1: move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way;
         "The temperature is going down"; "The barometer is
         falling"; "The curtain fell on the diva"; "Her hand went up
         and then fell again" [syn: descend, fall, go down,
         come down] [ant: arise, ascend, come up, go up,
         lift, move up, rise, uprise]
    2: come from; be connected by a relationship of blood, for
       example; "She was descended from an old Italian noble
       family"; "he comes from humble origins" [syn: derive,
       come, descend]
    3: do something that one considers to be below one's dignity
       [syn: condescend, deign, descend]
    4: come as if by falling; "Night fell"; "Silence fell" [syn:
       fall, descend, settle]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

143 Moby Thesaurus words for "descend":
   advance, alight, ascend, assault, attack, back, back up, bank,
   be shamed, budge, cant, careen, cascade, cataract, change,
   change hands, change ownership, change place, circle, climb,
   climb down, collapse, come down, come in, condescend, crash,
   crash-land, decline, degenerate, deign, derogate, descend on,
   devolve, dip, dip down, disimprove, disintegrate, ditch, down,
   downwind, drop, drop down, drop off, ebb, fall, fall away,
   fall down, fall into disrepute, fall off, flow, get down, get over,
   go, go around, go down, go downhill, go round, go sideways,
   go uphill, grade, gravitate, gyrate, head, incline,
   incur discredit, incur disesteem, incur disgrace, invade, keel,
   land, lead, lean, level off, light, list, lose altitude,
   lose caste, lose countenance, lose credit, lose face, lower,
   lower oneself, mount, move, move over, overshoot, pancake,
   parachute, pass on, pitch, plummet, plunge, point, pounce,
   pounce on, pounce upon, pour down, precipitate, progress, rain,
   rake, regress, retreat, retrograde, retrogress, rise, rot, rotate,
   run, settle, settle down, shelve, shift, sidle, sink, slant, slope,
   soar, spin, stir, stoop, stream, subside, succeed, swag, sway,
   swoop, swoop down on, swoop down upon, talk down, tend, tend to go,
   tilt, tip, touch down, travel, trend downward, uprise, upwind,
   vouchsafe, wane, whirl, worsen