return

verb returns · returning · returned · return

1. intransitive To come or go back (to a place or person). Although the birds fly north for the summer, they return here in winter.
2. intransitive To go back in thought, narration, or argument. To return to my story[…]
3. intransitive To recur; to come again. Winter returns every year.
4. intransitive, obsolete To turn back, retreat. ‘I suppose here is none woll be glad to returne – and as for me,’ seyde Sir Cador, ‘I had lever dye this day that onys to turne my bak.’
5. obsolete, transitive To turn (something) round. Whan Kyng Marke harde hym sey that worde, he returned his horse and abode by hym.
6. transitive To place or put back something where it had been. Please return your hands to your lap.
7. transitive To give something back to its original holder or owner. You should return the library book within one month.
8. To give in requital or recompense; to requite. […]the Lord ſhall returne thy wickedneſſe vpon thine owne head.
9. transitive To reciprocate (a visit or telephone call, electronic message, etc.). Hello, I’m just returning your call. What did you want to talk about?
10. transitive To take back something to a vendor for a complete or partial refund. Yeah, it’s $600,000 but, if it doesn’t work, you can always return it. As long as it’s undamaged and in the original packaging, I’ll give you a full refund.
11. To bat the ball back over the net in response to a serve. The player couldn’t return the serve because it was so fast.
12. To play a card as a result of another player’s lead. If one players plays a trump, the others must return a trump.
13. To throw a ball back to the wicket-keeper (or a fielder at that position) from somewhere in the field.
14. transitive To say in reply; to respond. to return an answer;  to return thanks;  “Do it yourself!” she returned.
15. intransitive To relinquish control to the calling procedure.
16. transitive To pass (data) back to the calling procedure. This function returns the number of files in the directory.
17. dated, transitive To retort; to throw back. to return the lie
18. transitive To report, or bring back and make known. to return the result of an election
19. Commonwealth, broadly, dated To elect to a certain office. he was returned as a Member of Parliament
20. To give a thrust or cut after parrying a sword-thrust.

Similar: revend, give back, reinstate, render, restore, return, revest, surrender

noun returns · returne

1. countable, uncountable The act of returning. I expect the house to be spotless upon my return.
2. countable, uncountable A return ticket. Do you want a one-way or a return?
3. countable, uncountable An item that is returned, e.g. due to a defect. Most product returns to the top retailers in the USA (either direct from the consumer or through non-sales) will be taken back by the original suppliers for rework or disposal.
4. countable, uncountable An answer. a return to one’s question
5. countable, uncountable An account, or formal report, of an action performed, of a duty discharged, of facts or statistics, etc.; especially, in the plural, a set of tabulated statistics prepared for general information. election returns; a return of the amount of goods produced or sold
6. countable, uncountable Gain or loss from an investment. It yielded a return of 5%.
7. countable, uncountable A report of income submitted to a government for purposes of specifying exact tax payment amounts; a tax return. Hand in your return within 90 days of the end of the tax year.
8. countable, uncountable A carriage return character.
9. countable, uncountable The act of relinquishing control to the calling procedure.
10. countable, uncountable A return value: the data passed back from a called procedure.
11. countable, uncountable A return pipe, returning fluid to a boiler or other central plant (compare with flow pipe, which carries liquid away from a central plant). The boiler technician had to cut out the heating return to access the safety valve.
12. countable, uncountable A roadway along which foul air travels from the face on its way out of the mine.
13. countable, uncountable The act of catching a ball after a punt and running it back towards the opposing team.
14. countable, uncountable A throw from a fielder to the wicket-keeper or to another fielder at the wicket.
15. countable, uncountable A short perpendicular extension of a desk, usually slightly lower.
16. countable, uncountable The continuation in a different direction, most often at a right angle, of a building, face of a building, or any member, such as a moulding; applied to the shorter in contradistinction to the longer. A facade of sixty feet east and west has a return of twenty feet north and south.