(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
1.
If you ~ or if you ~ a staircase, you move downwards from a higher to a lower level. (FORMAL)
Things are cooler and more damp as we ~ to the cellar...
She ~ed one flight of stairs.
= go down
? rise, ascend
VERB: V prep, V n
2.
When a mood or atmosphere ~s on a place or on the people there, it affects them by spreading among them. (LITERARY)
An uneasy calm ~ed on the area...
= fall
VERB: V on/upon/over n, also V
3.
If a large group of people arrive to see you, especially if their visit is unexpected or causes you a lot of work, you can say that they have ~ed on you.
3,000 city officials ~ed on Capitol Hill to lobby for more money...
VERB: V on/upon n
4.
When night, dusk, or darkness ~s, it starts to get dark. (LITERARY)
Darkness has now ~ed and the moon and stars shine hazily in the clear sky.
= fall
VERB: V
5.
If you say that someone ~s to behaviour which you consider unacceptable, you are expressing your disapproval of the fact that they do it.
We’re not going to ~ to such methods...
= stoop, sink
VERB: V to n/-ing disapproval
6.
When you want to emphasize that the situation that someone is entering is very bad, you can say that they are ~ing into that situation.
He was ultimately overthrown and the country ~ed into chaos.
= fall, slide
VERB: V into n emphasis