Return

• POS: Noun, Verb (intransitive), Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: re=turn

CIDE DICTIONARY

Return, v. i. [OE. returnen, retournen, F. retourner; pref. re- re- + tourner to turn. See Turn.].

•  To turn back; to go or come again to the same place or condition.  Chaucer.  [1913 Webster]

  "On their embattled ranks the waves return."  [1913 Webster]

  "If they returned out of bondage, it must be into a state of freedom."  [1913 Webster]

  "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."  [1913 Webster]
•  To come back, or begin again, after an interval, regular or irregular; to appear again.  [1913 Webster]

  "With the year
  Seasons return; but not me returns
  Day or the sweet approach of even or morn."  [1913 Webster]
•  To speak in answer; to reply; to respond.  [1913 Webster]

  "He said, and thus the queen of heaven returned."  [1913 Webster]
•  To revert; to pass back into possession.  [1913 Webster]

  "And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David."  [1913 Webster]
•  To go back in thought, narration, or argument.  Fielding.  [1913 Webster]

Return, v. t. 

•  To bring, carry, send, or turn, back; as, to return a borrowed book, or a hired horse.  [1913 Webster]

  "Both fled attonce, ne ever back returned eye."  [1913 Webster]
•  To repay; as, to return borrowed money.  [1913 Webster]
•  To give in requital or recompense; to requite.  [1913 Webster]

  "The Lord shall return thy wickedness upon thine own head."  [1913 Webster]
•  To give back in reply; as, to return an answer; to return thanks.  [1913 Webster]
•  To retort; to throw back; as, to return the lie.  [1913 Webster]

  "If you are a malicious reader, you return upon me, that I affect to be thought more impartial than I am."  [1913 Webster]
•  To report, or bring back and make known.  [1913 Webster]

  "And all the people answered together, . . . and Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord."  [1913 Webster]
•  To render, as an account, usually an official account, to a superior; to report officially by a list or statement; as, to return a list of stores, of killed or wounded; to return the result of an election.  [1913 Webster]
•  Hence, to elect according to the official report of the election officers.  [1913 Webster]
•  To bring or send back to a tribunal, or to an office, with a certificate of what has been done; as, to return a writ.  [1913 Webster]
•  To convey into official custody, or to a general depository.  [1913 Webster]

  "Instead of a ship, he should levy money, and return the same to the treasurer for his majesty's use."  [1913 Webster]
•  To bat (the ball) back over the net.  [1913 Webster]
•  To lead in response to the lead of one's partner; as, to return a trump; to return a diamond for a club.  [1913 Webster]

To return a lead (Card Playing), to lead the same suit led by one's partner.

Syn. -- To restore; requite; repay; recompense; render; remit; report.

Return, n. 

•  The act of returning (intransitive), or coming back to the same place or condition; as, the return of one long absent; the return of health; the return of the seasons, or of an anniversary.  [1913 Webster]

  "At the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee."  [1913 Webster]

  "His personal return was most required and necessary."  [1913 Webster]
•  The act of returning (transitive), or sending back to the same place or condition; restitution; repayment; requital; retribution; as, the return of anything borrowed, as a book or money; a good return in tennis.  [1913 Webster]

  "You made my liberty your late request:
  Is no return due from a grateful breast?"  [1913 Webster]
•  That which is returned.  [1913 Webster]

  "I do expect return
  Of thrice three times the value of this bond."  [1913 Webster]

  "The fruit from many days of recreation is very little; but from these few hours we spend in prayer, the return is great."  [1913 Webster]
•  The continuation in a different direction, most often at a right angle, of a building, face of a building, or any member, as a molding or mold; -- applied to the shorter in contradistinction to the longer; thus, a facade of sixty feet east and west has a return of twenty feet north and south.  [1913 Webster]
•  The rendering back or delivery of writ, precept, or execution, to the proper officer or court.  Blackstone.  [1913 Webster]
•  An official account, report, or statement, rendered to the commander or other superior officer; as, the return of men fit for duty; the return of the number of the sick; the return of provisions, etc.  [1913 Webster]
•  The turnings and windings of a trench or mine.  [1913 Webster]

Return ball, a ball held by an elastic string so that it returns to the hand from which it is thrown, -- used as a plaything. -- Return bend, a pipe fitting for connecting the contiguous ends of two nearly parallel pipes lying alongside or one above another. -- Return day (Law), the day when the defendant is to appear in court, and the sheriff is to return the writ and his proceedings. -- Return flue, in a steam boiler, a flue which conducts flame or gases of combustion in a direction contrary to their previous movement in another flue. -- Return pipe (Steam Heating), a pipe by which water of condensation from a heater or radiator is conveyed back toward the boiler.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Return, v. & n.
--v.
1 intr. come or go back.
2 tr. bring or put or send back to the person or place etc. where originally belonging or obtained (returned the fish to the river; have you returned my scissors?).
3 tr. pay back or reciprocate; give in response (decided not to return the compliment).
4 tr. yield (a profit).
5 tr. say in reply; retort.
6 tr. (in cricket or tennis etc.) hit or send (the ball) back after receiving it.
7 tr. state or mention or describe officially, esp. in answer to a writ or formal demand.
8 tr. (of an electorate) elect as an MP, government, etc.
9 tr. Cards a lead (a suit) previously led or bid by a partner. b lead (a suit or card) after taking a trick.
10 tr. Archit. continue (a wall etc.) in a changed direction, esp. at right angles.
--n.
1 the act or an instance of coming or going back.
2 a the act or an instance of giving or sending or putting or paying back. b a thing given or sent back.
3 (in full return ticket) esp. Brit. a ticket for a journey to a place and back to the starting-point.
4 (in sing. or pl.) a the proceeds or profit of an undertaking. b the acquisition of these.
5 a formal report or statement compiled or submitted by order (an income-tax return).
6 (in full return match or game) a second match etc. between the same opponents.
7 Electr. a conductor bringing a current back to its source.
8 Brit. a sheriff's report on a writ.
9 esp. Brit. a a person's election as an MP etc. b a returning officer's announcement of this.
10 Archit. a part receding from the line of the front, e.g. the side of a house or of a window-opening.

Idiom

by return (of post) by the next available post in the return direction. in return as an exchange or reciprocal action. many happy returns (of the day) a greeting on a birthday. return crease Cricket each of two lines joining the popping-crease and bowling-crease at right angles to the bowling-crease and extending beyond it. returning officer Brit. an official conducting an election in a constituency and announcing the results. return thanks express thanks esp. in a grace at meals or in response to a toast or condolence.

Derivative

returnable adj. returner n. returnless adj.

Etymology

ME f. OF returner (as RE-, TURN)

THESAURUS

Return

CRT spot, DM display, Doppler signal, IF signal, IM display, RF echoes, about-face, acknowledge, acknowledgment, action and reaction, advent, advert, afford, alternate, alternation, amends, answer, answer back, answering, antiphon, arrival, atavism, atonement, automatic reaction, autonomic reaction, back answer, back talk, backchat, backing, backset, backslide, backsliding, backward deviation, backward motion, backward step, bandy, be here again, be quits with, be reflected, be sent back, beam, beat, beat signal, benefit, blips, blood money, boom, boomerang, bounce back, bounceback, bounces, bring back, bring in, capital gains, carry back, change, circle, cleanup, clear profit, cock, come again, come and go, come around, come back, come back at, come home, come in, come round, come round again, come up again, comeback, coming, commute, compensate, compensation, consideration, convalescence, cooperate, counter, counterblast, counterblow, counterchange, counterstroke, cycle, cyclicalness, damages, deliver, disenchantment, display, dividends, double, double back, double-dot display, doubling, duplication, earn, earnings, echo, echo back, echo signal, evasive reply, exchange, extradite, extradition, fall astern, fall behind, falling back, filthy lucre, flash back, flip-flop, gain, gains, get, get back at, get behind, get even with, gettings, give, give acknowledgment, give and take, give answer, give back, give-and-take, giving back, gleanings, go back, go backwards, go behind, go home, gross, gross profit, guerdon, hoard, homecoming, honorarium, imitation, income, indemnification, indemnity, interchange, interest, intermit, intermittence, intermittency, jerk back, keep coming, kickback, killing, lapse, lapse back, local oscillator signal, logroll, lose ground, lucre, makings, meed, meter, neat profit, net, net profit, offer, oscillate, oscillation, output signal, paper profits, pay, pay back, pay off, payment, pelf, pendulum motion, percentage, periodicalness, periodicity, perk, perks, permute, perquisite, pickings, picture, pips, piston motion, place in, plagiarism, predictable response, price, proceeds, proffer, profit, profits, pull back, pulsate, pulsation, pulse, put back, quittance, quotation, radar signal, rake-off, rally, react, reaction, reactivate, reading, ready reply, reappear, reappearance, rebirth, rebound, recede, receipt, receipts, recession, recidivate, recidivation, recidivism, reciprocate, reciprocation, reciprocity, reclamation, recoil, recommit, recommitment, recompense, reconstitute, reconversion, reconvert, recoupment, recover, recovery, recrudescence, recruit, recuperation, recur, recurrence, recursion, reddition, redoubling, redress, reduplication, reecho, reenact, reentrance, reentry, reestablish, refill, reflect, reflection, reflex, reflex action, refluence, reflux, reform, refund, refundment, regain, regress, regression, regular wave motion, regurgitation, rehabilitate, rehabilitation, reimbursement, reincarnation, reinstall, reinstate, reinstatement, reinstitute, reintegrate, reinvest, rejoin, rejoinder, relapse, remand, remandment, remigration, remit, remitter, remuneration, render, rendition, renew, renewal, reoccur, reoccurrence, reparation, repartee, repatriate, repatriation, repayment, repeat, repercuss, repetition, replace, replacement, replacing, replenish, replication, reply, report, repost, reproduction, requital, requite, requitement, rescript, rescription, resound, respond, respondence, response, responsion, responsory, restitution, restoration, restore, restoring, results, resume, resumption, resurface, retaliate, retaliation, retort, retribution, retroaction, retrocede, retrocession, retroflex, retroflexion, retrogradation, retrograde, retrogress, retrogression, retroversion, retrovert, retrusion, return answer, return for answer, return signal, return the compliment, returning, returns, revenue, reverberate, reverberation, reversal, reverse, reversion, revert, reverting, revest, revolve, revulsion, reward, rhythm, riposte, rise, roll, roll around, rollback, rotate, rumble, salvage, satisfaction, say, say in reply, seasonality, send back, sending back, setback, shoot back, short answer, signal, signal display, slip back, slipping back, smart money, snappy comeback, solatium, sound, spot, sternway, store, swap, switch, take, take back, take-in, takings, talk back, target image, throwback, trace, trade, transmitter signal, transpose, turn, turn back, turn in, turnabout, undulate, undulation, unthinking response, video signal, wealth, wergild, wheel, wheel around, winnings, witty reply, witty retort, yes-and-no answer, yield

ROGET THESAURUS

Return

Description

N description, account, statement, report, expose, specification, particulars, state of facts, summary of facts, brief, return, catalogue raisonne, guidebook, delineation, sketch, monograph, minute account, detailed particular account, circumstantial account, graphic account, narration, recital, rehearsal, relation, historiography, chronography, historic Muse, Clio, history, biography, autobiography, necrology, obituary, narrative, history, memoir, memorials, annals, saga, tradition, legend, story, tale, historiette, personal narrative, journal, life, adventures, fortunes, experiences, confessions, anecdote, ana, trait, work of fiction, novel, romance, Minerva press, fairy tale, nursery tale, fable, parable, apologue, dime novel, penny dreadful, shilling shocker relator, raconteur, historian, biographer, fabulist, novelist, descriptive, graphic, narrative, epic, suggestive, well-drawn, historic, traditional, traditionary, legendary, anecdotic, storied, described, furor scribendi.

Relapse

VB relapse, lapse, fall back, slide back, sink back, return, retrograde, recidivate, fall off again.

Commission

N commission, delegation, consignment, assignment, procuration, deputation, legation, mission, embassy, agency, agentship, power of attorney, clerkship, surrogacy, errand, charge, brevet, diploma, exequatur, permit, appointment, nomination, designation, return, charter, ordination, installation, inauguration, investiture, swearing-in, accession, coronation, enthronement, vicegerency, regency, regentship, viceroy, consignee, deputy, agent, delegate, consignee, commissioned, per procurationem.

VB commission, delegate, depute, consign, assign, charge, intrust, entrust, commit, commit to the hands of, authorize, put in commission, accredit, engage, hire, bespeak, appoint, name, nominate, return, ordain, install, induct, inaugurate, swear in, invest, crown, enroll, enlist, give power of attorney to, employ, empower, set over, place over, send out, be commissioned, be accredited, represent, stand for, stand in the stead of, stand in the place of, stand in the shoes of.

Repetition

VB repeat, iterate, reiterate, reproduce, echo, reecho, drum, harp upon, battologize, hammer, redouble, recur, revert, return, reappear, recurse, renew, rehearse, do over again, say over again, ring the changes on, harp on the same string, din in the ear, drum in the ear, conjugate in all its moods tenses and inflexions, begin again, go over the same ground, go the same round, never hear the last of, resume, return to, recapitulate, reword.

Acquisition

N acquisition, gaining, obtainment, procuration, procurement, purchase, descent, inheritance, gift, recovery, retrieval, revendication, replevin, restitution, redemption, salvage, trover, find, trouvaille, foundling, gain, thrift, money-making, money grubbing, lucre, filthy lucre, pelf, loaves and fishes, the main chance, emolument, profit, earnings, winnings, innings, pickings, net profit, avails, income, proceeds, produce, product, outcome, output, return, fruit, crop, harvest, second crop, aftermath, benefit, sweepstakes, trick, prize, pool, pot, wealth, subreption, obreption, stealing, acquiring, acquired, profitable, advantageous, gainful, remunerative, paying, lucrative, lucri causa.

Restitution

N restitution, return, rendition, reddition, restoration, reinvestment, recuperation, rehabilitation, reparation, atonement, compensation, indemnification, release, replevin, redemption, recovery, remitter, reversion, restoring, recuperative, suum cuique.

VB return, restore, give back, carry back, bring back, render, render up, give up, let go, unclutch, disgorge, regorge, regurgitate, recoup, reimburse, compensate, indemnify, remit, rehabilitate, repair, reinvest, revest, reinstate, redeem, recover, take back again, revest, revert.

Periodicity

VB recur in regular order, recur in regular succession, return, revolve, come again, come in its turn, come round, come round again, beat, pulsate, alternate, intermit.

Reversion

N reversion, return, revulsion, turning point, turn of the tide, status quo ante bellum, calm before a storm, alternation, inversion, recoil, retreat, regression, retrogression, restoration, relapse, recidivism, atavism, vicinism, reverting, regressive, revulsive, reactionary, retrorse, a rebours.

Receipt

N receipt, value received, money coming in, income, incomings, innings, revenue, return, proceeds, gross receipts, net profit, earnings, accepta, avails, rent, rent roll, rental, rentage, rack-rent, premium, bonus, sweepstakes, tontine, pension, annuity, jointure, alimony, palimony, pittance, emolument, receiving, received, profitable.

VB receive, take money, draw from, derive from, acquire, take, bring in, yield, afford, pay, return, accrue.

Reward

N reward, recompense, remuneration, meed, guerdon, reguerdon, price, indemnity, indemnification, quittance, compensation, reparation, redress, satisfaction, reckoning, acknowledgment, requital, amends, sop, atonement, retribution, consideration, return, quid pro quo, salvage, perquisite, vail, douceur, bribe, hush money, smart money, blackmail, extortion, carcelage, solatium, allowance, salary, stipend, wages, compensation, pay, payment, emolument, tribute, batta, shot, scot, bonus, premium, tip, fee, honorarium, hire, dasturi, dustoori, mileage, crown, remunerative, remuneratory, munerary, compensatory, retributive, reparatory, rewarding, satisfactory, fideli certa merces, honor virtutis praemium, tibi seris tibi metis.

Recoil

N recoil, reaction, retroaction, revulsion, bounce, rebound, ricochet, repercussion, recalcitration, kick, contrecoup, springing back, elasticity, reflection, reflexion, reflex, reflux, reverberation, rebuff, repulse, return, ducks and drakes, boomerang, spring, reactionist, elastic collision, coefficient of restitution, recoiling, refluent, repercussive, recalcitrant, reactionary, retroactive, on the rebound, on the recoil, for every action there is a reaction, equal in force and opposite in direction.

Regression

N regress, regression, retrocession, retrogression, retrograduation, retroaction, reculade, retreat, withdrawal, retirement, remigration, recession, recess, crab-like motion, refluence, reflux, backwater, regurgitation, ebb, return, resilience reflection, reflexion (recoil), flip-flop, volte-face, counter motion, retrograde motion, backward movement, motion in reverse, counter movement, counter march, veering, tergiversation, recidivation, backsliding, fall, deterioration, recidivism, recidivity, reversal, relapse, turning point, receding, retrograde, retrogressive, regressive, refluent, reflex, recidivous, resilient, crab-like, balky, reactionary, back, backwards, reflexively, to the right about, a reculons, a rebours, revenons a nos moutons, as you were.

VB recede, regrade, return, revert, retreat, retire, retrograde, retrocede, back out, back down, balk, crawfish, crawl, withdraw, rebound, go back, come back, turn back, hark back, draw back, fall back, get back, put back, run back, lose ground, fall astern, drop astern, backwater, put about, backtrack, take the back track, veer round, double, wheel, countermarch, ebb, regurgitate, jib, shrink, shy, turn tail, turn round, turn upon one's heel, turn one's back upon, retrace one's steps, dance the back step, sound a retreat, beat a retreat, go home.

Arrival

N arrival, advent, landing, debarkation, disembarkation, reception, welcome, vin d'honneur, home, goal, goalpost, landing place, landing stage, bunder, resting place, destination, harbor, haven, port, airport, spaceport, terminus, halting place, halting ground, landing strip, runway, terminal, journey's end, anchorage, return, remigration, meeting, rencounter, encounter, completion, recursion, arriving, homeward bound, here, hither, Int, welcome!, hail!, all Hail!, good-day, good morrow!, any port in a storm.

VB arrive, get to, come to, come, reach, attain, come up with, come up to, overtake, make, fetch, complete, join, rejoin, light, alight, dismount, land, go ashore, debark, disembark, put in, put into, visit, cast anchor, pitch one's tent, sit down, get to one's journey's end, make the land, be in at the death, come back, get back, come home, get home, return, come in, make one's appearance, drop in, detrain, deplane, outspan, de-orbit, come to hand, come at, come across, hit, come upon, light upon, pop upon, bounce upon, plump upon, burst upon, pitch upon, meet, encounter, rencounter, come in contact.

Answer

N answer, response, reply, replication, riposte, rejoinder, surrejoinder, rebutter, surrebutter, retort, repartee, rescript, rescription, antiphon, antiphony, acknowledgment, password, echo, counter statement, discovery, solution, rationale, clue, Oedipus, oracle, return, answering, responsive, respondent, conclusive, because, on the scent, on the right scent, Int, eureka!.

Information

N information, enlightenment, acquaintance, knowledge, publicity, data, communication, intimation, notice, notification, enunciation, annunciation, announcement, communiqu_e, representation, round robin, presentment, case, estimate, specification, report, advice, monition, news, return, account, statement, mention, acquainting, instruction, outpouring, intercommunication, communicativeness, informant, authority, teller, intelligencer, reporter, exponent, mouthpiece, informer, eavesdropper, delator, detective, sleuth, mouchard, spy, newsmonger, messenger, amicus curiae, valet de place, cicerone, pilot, guide, guidebook, handbook, vade mecum, manual, map, plan, chart, gazetteer, itinerary, hint, suggestion, innuendo, inkling, whisper, passing word, word in the ear, subaudition, cue, byplay, gesture, gentle hint, broad hint, verbum sapienti, a word to the wise, insinuation, information theory, bit, byte, word, doubleword, quad word, paragraph, segment, magnetic media, paper medium, optical media, random access memory, RAM, read-only memory, ROM, write once read mostly memory, WORM, informed, communique, reported, published, expressive, explicit plain spoken, (artless), nuncupative, nuncupatory, declaratory, expository, enunciative, communicative, communicatory, from information received, a little bird told me, I heard it through the grapevine.

Record

N record, trace, vestige, relic, remains, scar, cicatrix, footstep, footmark, footprint, pug, track mark, wake, trail, scent, piste, monument, hatchment, slab, tablet, trophy, achievement, obelisk, pillar, column, monolith, memorial, memento, testimonial, medal, commemoration, record, note, minute, register, registry, roll, cartulary, diptych, Domesday book, catalogue raisonne, entry, memorandum, indorsement, inscription, copy, duplicate, docket, notch, muniment, deed, document, deposition, proces verbal, affidavit, certificate, notebook, memorandum book, memo book, pocketbook, commonplace book, portfolio, pigeonholes, excerpta, adversaria, jottings, dottings, gazette, gazetteer, newspaper, daily, magazine, almanac, almanack, calendar, ephemeris, diary, log, journal, daybook, ledger, cashbook, petty cashbook, professional journal, scientific literature, the literature, primary literature, secondary literature, article, review article, archive, scroll, state paper, return, blue book, statistics, compte rendu, Acts of, Transactions of, Proceedings of, Hansard's Debates, chronicle, annals, legend, history, biography, Congressional Records, registration, registry, enrollment, inrollment, tabulation, entry, booking, signature, recorder, journalism, recording, tape recording, videotape, compact disk, floppy disk, diskette, hard disk, Winchester disk, read-only memory, ROM, write once read mostly memory, WORM, on record, exegi monumentum aere perennium, read their history in a nation's eyes, records that defy the tooth of time.