ascend

present singular third person ascends · participle present ascending · participle past ascended · past ascended

1. intransitiveTo move upward, to fly, to soar.

   He ascended to heaven upon a cloud.

2. intransitiveTo slope in an upward direction.
3. transitiveTo go up.

   You ascend the stairs and take a right.

   1 more example

   When a train has to ascend the incline, it first runs down, engine first, from the station about 60 or 70 yards. Then comes behind it the aforesaid truck, or one similar, which, being attached to an endless wire rope, a communication is made by means of the electric telegraph to the engineman at the top of the incline, when the fixed engine begins to work, and the train, partly pulled by the locomotive before, and partly pushed by the truck behind, rapidly ascends, taking somewhere about three minutes to get up.

   1957 September 28, M. D. Greville and G. O. Holt, “Railway Development in Manchester—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 620, from Herapath's Journal

4. ambitransitiveTo succeed a ruler on (the throne).

   She ascended the throne when her mother abdicated.

   1 more example

   She ascended to the throne when her mother abdicated.

5. figurativelyintransitiveTo rise; to become higher, more noble, etc.
6. To trace, search or go backwards temporally (e.g., through records, genealogies, routes, etc.).

   Our inquiries ascend to the remotest antiquity.

7. transitiveentertainmentTo become higher in pitch.
8. incel slang; intramurally derogatory; incel slang; intramurally derogatoryTo cease being an incel, generally by losing one's virginity and engaging in sexual intercourse, or by forming a romantic relationship.

   Instead of using sexual conquest as an opportunity to “ascend,” these members advocated for pursuing internal self-improvement.

   2022, Alyssa Jewel Davis, "Climbing the masculine hierarchy: Examining constructions of masculinity through incel identities", thesis submitted to Clemson University, page 35

   2 more examples

   As such, race and class are not only factors in attractiveness (i.e. “Just Be White” and “job/career maxxing” are often used in the forums), but is also a factor when incels discuss ways for them to “ascend” and leave their incel status.

   2023, Julia R. DeCook, Megan Kelly, “Interrogating the 'incel menace': assessing the threat of male supremacy in terrorism studies”, in Ann-Kathrin Rothermel, Laura J. Shepherd, editors, Gender and the Governance of Terrorism and Violent Extremism, unnumbered page

   Many femcels take extreme measures to 'ascend from femceldom', and Laura describes how she is in the process of improving her looks and personality.

   2023, Maria Brix Rasmussen, "The Lack of Love: The Sacred and the Suffering Experiences of Female Involuntary Celibates", thesis submitted to Uppsala University, page 57