Return

To turn back; to go or come again to the same place or condition.

To come back, or begin again, after an interval, regular or irregular; to appear again.

To speak in answer; to reply; to respond.

To revert; to pass back into possession.

To go back in thought, narration, or argument.

To bring, carry, send, or turn, back; as, to return a borrowed book, or a hired horse.

To repay; as, to return borrowed money.

To give in requital or recompense; to requite.

To give back in reply; as, to return an answer; to return thanks.

To retort; to throw back; as, to return the lie.

To report, or bring back and make known.

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.

Hence, to elect according to the official report of the election officers.

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.

To convey into official custody, or to a general depository.

To bat (the ball) back over the net.

To lead in response to the lead of one's partner; as, to return a trump; to return a diamond for a club.

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.

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.

That which is returned.

A payment; a remittance; a requital.

An answer; as, a return to one's question.

An account, or formal report, of an action performed, of a duty discharged, of facts or statistics, and the like; as, election returns; a return of the amount of goods produced or sold; especially, in the plural, a set of tabulated statistics prepared for general information.

The profit on, or advantage received from, labor, or an investment, undertaking, adventure, etc.

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.

The rendering back or delivery of writ, precept, or execution, to the proper officer or court.

The certificate of an officer stating what he has done in execution of a writ, precept, etc., indorsed on the document.

The sending back of a commission with the certificate of the commissioners.

A day in bank. See Return day, below.

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.

The turnings and windings of a trench or mine.

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"

the income or profit arising from such transactions as the sale of land or other property; "the average return was about 5%"

the occurrence of a change in direction back in the opposite direction

a quick reply to a question or remark (especially a witty or critical one); "it brought a sharp rejoinder from the teacher"