- [countable, usually singular]
an action of coming or going down 下降；下倾 The plane began its descent to Heathrow. 飞机开始向希思罗机场降落。 - (figurative)
the country’s swift descent into anarchy 国家迅速陷入无政府状态
Extra ExamplesTopics Transport by airc1I made a slow and painful descent down the stairs. 我痛苦地慢慢下楼梯。 The engines failed on the plane's descent to Newark. 飞机向纽瓦克机场降落时发动机失灵了。 The plane was making its final descent so we had to fasten our seat belts. 飞机进入最后降落阶段，我们要系好安全带。 The space capsule used parachutes to slow its descent. 太空舱用降落伞以减低其下降速度。 They began the difficult descent of the mountain's south face. 他们开始沿山的南坡艰难地往下走。 We slowed the balloon's rate of descent. 我们放慢了气球的降落速度。 - (figurative)
his descent into alcoholism 他沉溺于酒瘾之中 the descent from the top of the mountain 从山顶下来
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- fast
- rapid
- swift
- …
- make
- begin
- start
- …
- during a/the descent
- on a/the descent
- descent down
- …
- a rate of descent
- [countable]
a slope going downwards 斜坡；坡道 Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- gentle
- steep
- [uncountable]
a person’s family origins 血统；祖籍；祖先；出身 to be of Scottish descent 祖籍是苏格兰 - descent from somebody
He traces his line of descent from the Stuart kings. 他的家族可追溯到斯图亚特王朝。
Extra ExamplesTopics Historyc2, Family and relationshipsc2She claims direct descent from Queen Victoria. 她声称自己是维多利亚女王的直系后裔。 Humans and other apes followed separate lines of descent from a common ancestor. 人类和其他猿类从一个共同的祖先进化而来，但属于不同的世系。 She is Hungarian by descent. 她祖籍匈牙利。 She is of mixed European and African descent. 她有欧洲和非洲的混合血统。 groups sharing common descent 拥有共同血统的人群 people of West Indian descent 祖籍西印度群岛的民众 Most European languages have a common descent. 大多数欧洲语言都有共同的起源。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- direct
- lineal
- common
- …
- claim
- have
- trace
- …
- by descent
- descent from
- a line of descent
- of Mexican, Scottish, etc. descent
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French descente, from descendre ‘to descend’, from Latin descendere, from de- ‘down’ + scandere ‘to climb’.