Definition of Return

Verb: return ri'turn

Go or come back to place, condition, or activity where one has been before
"return to your native land"; "the professor returned to his teaching position after serving as Dean"
Give back
"return money";
- render
Go back to a previous state
"We returned to the old rules";
- revert, retrovert, regress, turn back
Go back to something earlier
"This returns to a previous remark of his";
- hark back, come back, recall
Bring back to the point of departure
- take back, bring back
Return in kind
"return a compliment"; "return her love"
(football) make a return
"return a kickback"
Respond in a quick, clever or humorous way
- retort, come back, repay, riposte, rejoin
Be restored
"Her old vigour returned";
- come back
Pay back
- refund, repay, give back
Pass down
"return a verdict";
- render, deliver
Elect again
- reelect
Be inherited by
"The land returned to the family";
- fall, pass, devolve
Give or supply
"The estate returns some revenue for the family";
- render, yield, give, generate
Submit (a report, etc.) to someone in authority

Noun: return ri'turn

Document giving the tax collector information about the taxpayer's tax liability
"his gross income was enough that he had to file a tax return";
- tax return, income tax return
A coming to or returning home
"on his return from Australia we gave him a welcoming party";
- homecoming
The occurrence of a change in direction back in the opposite direction
- coming back
Getting something back again
"upon the return of the book to its rightful owner the child was given a tongue lashing";
- restitution, restoration, regaining
The act of going back to a prior location
"they set out on their return to the base camp"
The income or profit arising from such transactions as the sale of land or other property
"the average return was about 5%";
- issue, take, takings, proceeds, yield, payoff
Happening again (especially at regular intervals)
"the return of spring";
- recurrence, reoccurrence
A quick reply to a question or remark (especially a witty or critical one)
"it brought a sharp return from the teacher";
- rejoinder, retort, riposte, replication, comeback, counter
The key on a computer keyboard that starts a new line when writing text; in other contexts the key usually causes a form or window to perform a default function, e.g. accept the data that has just been input
- return key, enter key, enter
A reciprocal group action
"in return we gave them as good as we got";
- paying back, getting even
A tennis stroke that sends the ball back to the other player
"he won the point on a cross-court return"
(American football) the act of running back the ball after a kickoff, punt, interception or fumble
The act of someone appearing again
"his return as Hamlet has been long awaited";
- reappearance
[Brit] A ticket to a place and back (usually over the same route)
- round-trip ticket [N. Amer], return ticket [Brit]