From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishascentas‧cent /əˈsent/ noun 1 [countable usually singular]DSOUP the act of climbing something or moving upwards OPP descent the first ascent of Everest2 [countable usually singular]DSOUP a path or way up to the top of something, for example a mountain OPP descent a rugged and steep ascent3 [uncountable]POWER the process of becoming more important, powerful, or successful than before SYN rise OPP fallascent to the president’s ascent to power
Examples from the Corpus
ascent• The final ascent of Kilimanjaro began at 5:00 a.m.• The men began their final ascent at six o'clock the next day.• He wrote a best-selling book about the first ascent of Everest.• Some of the four million annual visitors seem to find the mere ascent insufficiently fulfilling.• I leant against a rock and watched Will choose his line of ascent.• Yeltsin's ascent to the presidency of Russia• It's a steep ascent but the compensation is a swift gaining of the ridge.• The ascent had taken 4 hours!• Unfortunately this fell out on the third ascent. 