dē-volvo — Lewis & Short
dē-volvo, volvi, vŏlūtum, 3,
I v. a., to roll or tumble down (class.).
I Lit.:
saxa in musculum,Caes. B. C. 2, 11, 1, and 2; cf.
saxa (amnis),Quint. 12, 10, 61:
auratas trabes,Verg. A. 2, 449: tonitrua, i. e. to imitate it (by rolling down balls behind the scenes), Phaedr. 5, 7, 23:
clipeos e muris,Curt. 4, 3 fin.:
panem ex igne,Cat. 59, 4:
corpora in humum,Ov. M. 7, 574:
se toris,Val. Fl. 1, 235 et saep.—Poet.:
fusis mollia pensa,i. e. to spin off, Verg. G. 4, 349.—
b Pass. in mid. force, to roll itself down, to roll or tumble down, to fall headlong:
monte praecipiti devolutus torrens,Liv. 28, 6; cf. Col. 1, 5, 2; Curt. 5, 3:
jumenta cum oneribus devolvebantur,Liv. 21, 33:
ex praecipiti,Curt. 7, 11.—
II Trop.:
aliquem vitā suā, to remove from,i. e. to deprive of, Plaut. Men. 5, 5, 5:
per audaces nova dithyrambos Verba devolvit (the figure being taken from a river),Hor. Od. 4, 2, 11.—
b Mid., to sink down, fall into: ad spem inanem pacis devoluti, * Cic. Phil. 7, 4, 13:
retro ad stirpem,Liv. 1, 47:
ad otium et inertiam,Col. 1 prooem. § 29:
devolvuntur,hasten down, Amm. 15, 10, 4.