Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To pass on or delegate to another.
- intransitive verb Archaic To cause to roll onward or downward.
- intransitive verb To be passed on or transferred to another.
- intransitive verb To degenerate or deteriorate gradually.
- intransitive verb Archaic To roll onward or downward.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To roll downward or onward.
- To transfer, as from one person to another; turn over; transmit.
- To roll down; come or arrive by rolling down or onward.
- To be transferred or transmitted; pass from one to another; fall by succession or transference.
- To degenerate.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To pass by transmission or succession; to be handed over or down; -- generally with
on orupon , sometimes withto orinto . - transitive verb To roll onward or downward; to pass on.
- transitive verb To transfer from one person to another; to deliver over; to hand down; -- generally with
upon , sometimes withto orinto .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive to
delegate something to someone else - verb intransitive to be
inherited by someone; to come into the hands of - verb intransitive to slowly
degrade
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb grow worse
- verb be inherited by
- verb pass on or delegate to another
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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He didn't use the word devolve'' and he's coming off a heroic performance in Detroit, but that's the deal.
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Will a new McCarthyism devolve from the current "Tea-Party" movement that exists only to attempt to deny the fact that Barack Obama is in fact a United States Citizen and has legitimately been elected President of all Americans?
Virginia governor declares April as Confederate History Month 2010
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"I don't mean to have this call devolve into a 'relationship' call," Davis said, before leading the pack of journalists down precisely that trail -- bringing up (and distorting) Obama's description of Bill Ayers as "just one of my friends in the neighborhood."
McCain Compares Obama Small Donor Issue To Ayers And ACORN 2010
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Learn from it and never again devolve into this shameful mockery of justice.
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"I don't mean to have this call devolve into a 'relationship' call," Davis said, before leading the pack of journalists down precisely that trail -- bringing up (and distorting) Obama's description of Bill Ayers as "just one of my friends in the neighborhood."
McCain Compares Obama Small Donor Issue To Ayers And ACORN 2010
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"I don't mean to have this call devolve into a 'relationship' call," Davis said, before leading the pack of journalists down precisely that trail -- bringing up and distorting Obama's description of Bill Ayers as "just one of my friends in the neighborhood."
McCain Compares Obama Small Donor Issue To Ayers And ACORN The Huffington Post News Team 2008
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But it is not our ambition to devolve from the centre those resources and responsibilities necessary to protect and advance our nationwide economy.
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But clearly Internet needs to "devolve" to a human scale since it is not just going away.
Judy Shapiro: Judy Consumer Wonders: What the Heck Did Prince Mean When He Said "The Internet's So Over"? Judy Shapiro 2010
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You know, we've seen instances of people, you know, handing out food or handing out bottles of water, and all of a sudden, it can very quickly kind of devolve into something else.
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And I was really happy that you see her kind of devolve into her own chaos and struggle with this choice.
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