To Get Off
To Step Down
intransitive verb, ichidan verb
The kanji is descend, but this verb vocab word is to get off, as in, to get off the train, or to get out of the car. If you think about trains back in the day, you had to descend down to the platform to get out of them, which is how this word became what it is. You know that this word is the "to get off" word because once you get off the train, you enter the real (りる) world, where hardships are real and not as comfy as the train.
Figuratively, this word also means to step down, as in "to give up" or "to resign” from something. For example, you can say ニュース番組を降りる (to step down from a news program) or ゲームを降りる (to drop out of a game).
The reading is unlike anything you've seen with this kanji. Just think about how you have to get off at O-station. None of the other letters are your stop. Just O-Station (お).
彼の奥さんだと思っていた女性が実はスパイでね、電車から飛び降りたんだよ。
The woman I thought was his wife was actually a spy and jumped off the train.