ascender

[ uh-sen-der ]

noun

1. a person or thing that ascends or causes ascension.
2. Printing.
   1. the part of a lowercase letter, as b, d, f, h, that rises above x-height.
   2. a letter rising above x-height, as b, d, f, h, etc.

ascender

/ əˈsɛndə /

noun

1. printing
   1. the part of certain lower-case letters, such as b or h, that extends above the body of the letter
   2. any letter having such a part
2. a person or thing that ascends
3. another word for ascendeur

Word History and Origins

Origin of ascender¹

First recorded in 1615–25; ascend + -er ¹

Example Sentences

The ascender of the Chang’e-6 probe lifted off Tuesday morning Beijing time and entered a preset orbit around the moon, the China National Space Administration said.

From Seattle Times

An ascender atop the lander will then take the samples in a metal vacuum container back to another module that is orbiting the moon.

From Seattle Times

An ascender module will ferry the samples back to the orbiter for the trip home and a final plunge by parachute in a return capsule, 53 days after launch.

From Science Magazine

Matt and I had flown from Washington, D.C., to Malawi toting 200 pounds of gear — drills, bolts, hammers, ropes, carabiners, mechanical ascenders, harnesses — in the hopes of establishing a new long route.

From New York Times

They then used “ascenders” that lock on the rope to pull themselves up El Capitan’s face, sometimes called “jugging.”

From Los Angeles Times