To move upward, to fly, to soar.

"He ascended to heaven upon a cloud."

To slope in an upward direction.

To go up.

"You ascend the stairs and take a right."

To succeed.

"She ascended the throne when her mother abdicated."

To rise; to become higher, more noble, etc.

To trace, search or go backwards temporally (e.g., through records, genealogies, routes, etc.).

"Our inquiries ascend to the remotest antiquity."

To become higher in pitch.

An ascent.

"continual ascendings and descendings"

(of a sequence) Ordered such that each element is greater than or equal to the previous element.

"Please arrange these numbers in an ascending order."

That causes a sequence to follow an ascending order.

"We used an ascending sort."