English Explanatory Dictionary

return

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To come or go back (to a place or person).
  2. To go back in thought, narration, or argument.
  3. To recur; to come again.
  4. To turn back, retreat.
  5. To turn (something) round.
  6. To place or put back something where it had been.
  7. To give something back to its original holder or owner.
  8. To give in requital or recompense; to requite.
  9. To reciprocate (a visit or telephone call).
  10. To take back something to a vendor for a complete or partial refund.
  11. To bat the ball back over the net in response to a serve.
  12. To play a card as a result of another player’s lead.
noun
  1. The act of returning.
  2. A return ticket.
  3. An item that is returned, e.g. due to a defect.
  4. An answer.
  5. 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.
  6. Gain or loss from an investment.
  7. A report of income submitted to a government for purposes of specifying exact tax payment amounts; a tax return.
  8. A carriage return character.
  9. The act of relinquishing control to the calling procedure.
  10. A return value: the data passed back from a called procedure.
  11. A return pipe, returning fluid to a boiler or other central plant (compare with flow pipe, which carries liquid away from a central plant).
  12. A roadway along which foul air travels from the face on its way out of the mine.

Pronunciation

rĭ-tûrnʹ /ɹɪˈtɜːn/ en-au-return.ogg /ɹɪˈtɝn/ en-us-return.ogg /ɹəˈtɚːn/ /ɹəˈtʊːɹn/ /ɾɪˈtə(ɾ)n/

Word forms

return returns returning returned no-table-tags glossary returnest returnedst returneth returne

Etymology

From Middle English returnen, retornen, from Anglo-Norman returner, from Old French retourner, retorner, from Medieval Latin retornare (“to turn back”), from re- + tornare (“to turn”). By surface analysis, re- + turn. Compare beturn.

Synonyms

revend give back reinstate render restore return revest surrender gaincoming

Antonyms

take

Related words

compensate indemnify reimburse

Derived words

misreturn nonreturn rereturn retpoline returnability return back returnee return evil for evil return fire returning officer returnment returnship return the favor return to dust return to form return to one’s muttons return to one’s senses unreturning abnormal return absolute return active return amended return annual return antireturn auto-return ball return book return bridge of no return by return by return mail by return of post carriage return day return dollar return early return Earth return vehicle eternal return exante return excess return expected return exponential return false return first return time hard return income tax return information return in return joint return kick return many happy returns market return mean return non-return non-return valve point of no return prereturn rate of return real return relative return return ace

Translations

Bulgarian: връщане German: Rückgabe Hungarian: visszavétel Hungarian: visszavitel Hungarian: visszaadás Hungarian: visszaváltás Hungarian: visszaszolgáltatás Hungarian: visszaküldés Indonesian: retur Spanish: retrovendición Spanish: retroventa Spanish: devolución Ottoman Turkish: اعاده Ukrainian: пове́рнення
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