Scend

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. The rising motion of a ship as it moves up the slope of a wave or swell
2. The upward surge of a vessel as it climbs the face of an advancing wave
3. A ship's movement upward along a wave's surface during heavy seas

Etymology: "Scend" is a nautical word for the upward surge of a ship's hull after a wave passes under it, or a heave of the sea itself. It began life as a corruption of "send," the verb meaning to cause something to move or go in a direction, and the sense of forward motion or upthrust was reshaped as people associated the word with "ascend," which carries the idea of rising. The result is a term that describes motion going upward rather than away, even though its ancestor simply meant to send.

Synonyms: surge, swell, heave