devolve
    v 1: pass on or delegate to another; "The representative
         devolved his duties to his aides while he was in the
         hospital"
    2: be inherited by; "The estate fell to my sister"; "The land
       returned to the family"; "The estate devolved to an heir that
       everybody had assumed to be dead" [syn: fall, return,
       pass, devolve]
    3: grow worse; "Her condition deteriorated"; "Conditions in the
       slums degenerated"; "The discussion devolved into a shouting
       match" [syn: devolve, deteriorate, drop, degenerate]
       [ant: convalesce, recover, recuperate]

Devolve \De*volve"\, v. i.
   To pass by transmission or succession; to be handed over or
   down; -- generally with on or upon, sometimes with to or
   into; as, after the general fell, the command devolved upon
   (or on) the next officer in rank.
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         His estate . . . devolved to Lord Somerville.
                                                  --Johnson.
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Devolve \De*volve"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Devolved; p. pr. &
   vb. n. Devolving.] [L. devolvere, devolutum, to roll down;
   de + volvere to roll down; de + volvere to roll. See
   Voluble.]
   1. To roll onward or downward; to pass on.
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            Every headlong stream
            Devolves its winding waters to the main. --Akenside.
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            Devolved his rounded periods.         --Tennyson.
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   2. To transfer from one person to another; to deliver over;
      to hand down; -- generally with upon, sometimes with to or
      into.
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            They devolved a considerable share of their power
            upon their favorite.                  --Burke.
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            They devolved their whole authority into the hands
            of the council of sixty.              --Addison.
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