ascend

ascend 1 *rise, arise, mount, soar, tower, rocket, levitate, surge

Analogous words: elevate, raise, rear, *lift: *advance, progress

Antonyms: descend

2 Ascend, mount, climb, scale mean to move upward to or toward a summit.

Ascend is the most colorless of these terms, for it implies little more than progressive upward movement

{

ascend a mountain

}

{

the car rapidly ascended the steep grade

}

It may be specifically used of movement along a river in the direction of its source

{

the Amazon can be ascended by seagoing ships 2300 miles

}

Mount usually implies getting up on something above the level of the ground and is therefore preferred to ascend in some collocations; thus, one mounts or less commonly ascends a platform or a scaffold but one may ascend or mount a throne while one invariably mounts a horse.

Climb usually suggests effort and ascent by the use of various means (as the hands and feet or gears or extra power)

{

[climb a tree

}

{

climb the social ladder

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{

to climb steep hills requires slow pace at first— Shak.

}

Scale adds to climb not only the suggestion of progression by steps but that of great difficulty; it is referable therefore to feats of climbing

{

scale a wall

}

{

a ladder quaintly made of cords . . . would serve to scale another Hero’s tower— Shak.

}

Antonyms: descend