Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One that descends.
  • noun The part of the lowercase letters, such as g, p, and q, that extends below the other lowercase letters.
  • noun A letter with such a part.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who descends.
  • noun That which descends, as a descending letter (which see, under descending).

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One who descends.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A person or thing that descends.
  • noun typography The part of a lowercase letter that is drawn below the bottom of lowercase letters, such as the tail of the letters g, p, and q.
  • noun cycling A cyclist who excels at fast descents.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun someone who descends
  • noun (printing) the part of lowercase letters that extends below the other lowercase letters
  • noun a lowercase letter that has a part extending below other lowercase letters

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

descend +‎ -er (“agent suffix”)

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Examples

  • The name descender is significant of the fact that there is along its whole course a descent to its banks; or it may simply denote the rapidity with which it "descends" to the Dead Sea.

    Easton's Bible Dictionary M.G. Easton 1897

  • It's when the dreadlocked, pierced-eared 19-year-old hooks a safety rope to a metal clip on his harness, wraps another rope through a metal device called a descender and steps from the roof of a building into nothingness.

    Omaha World-Herald > Frontpage 2008

  • Palestine -- the "descender," if not "the river of God" in the book of Psalms, at least that of his chosen people throughout their history.

    Smith's Bible Dictionary 1884

  • Connected by a cable to a high-speed "descender" machine, riders wearing jumpsuits and harnesses will leap from the edge of the observation tower toward a landing platform 855 feet below.

    Greensboring® Greensboro, NC 2010

  • Connected by a cable to a high-speed "descender" machine, riders wearing jumpsuits and harnesses will leap from the edge of the observation tower toward a landing platform 855 feet below.

    Greensboring® Greensboro, NC 2010

  • Double-click on the 'descender' symbol in the library and add a new layer.

    Pixel2Life.com: Latest 15 Tutorials 2008

  • Return to Scene 1 and drag the 'descender' symbol onto the stage.

    Pixel2Life.com: Latest 15 Tutorials 2008

  • Es que al descender del avión y abandonar la manga de desembarco, la recepción que le dan a uno es sencillamente sorprendente.

    Global Voices in English » Paraguay: Governmental Response to Arrival of H1N1 Virus 2009

  • I throw my sleeping bag in, tap my descender clip and sink in slowly.

    Taking Tree-Hugging to New Heights Benjamin Percy 2010

  • I unhook my ascender and switch over to a descender, not really ready to leave, to drop through the branches and return to the ground, and in this moment of readjustment, of powering my body down and trying to memorize the view, I recognize the feeling.

    Taking Tree-Hugging to New Heights Benjamin Percy 2010

Comments

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  • In wordplay, a lowercase letter that dips below the line: e.g., g, j, p, q, y.

    --Chris Cole, Wordplay

    May 23, 2008