Verb: devolve dee'vólv or di'vólv [N. Amer], di'vólv [Brit]
- Pass on or delegate to another
"The representative devolved his duties to his aides while he was in the hospital"
- Be inherited by
"The estate devolved to an heir that everybody had assumed to be dead";
- fall, return, pass
- Grow progressively worse
"The discussion devolved into a shouting match";
- deteriorate, drop, degenerate
Derived forms: devolving, devolves, devolved
Type of: assign, change hands, change owners, decline, delegate, depute, designate, worsen
Encyclopedia: Devolve