v.
       - come or go back to a place. ▸
(return to)
 go back to (a state or situation). ▸(especially of a feeling) come back after a period of absence. ▸Golf  play the last nine holes in a round of eighteen holes. 
- give or send back or put back in place. ▸feel, say, or do (the same feeling, action, etc.) in response. ▸(in tennis and other sports) hit or send (the ball) back to an opponent. ▸American Football  intercept (a pass, kick, or fumble by the opposing team) and run upfield with the ball. 
- yield or make (a profit).
- (of a judge or jury) state or present (a decision or verdict) in response to a formal request.
- (of an electorate) elect (a person or party) to office.
- Bridge  lead (a card) after taking a trick.
- Architecture  continue (a wall) in a changed direction, especially at right angles.
n.
       - an act or the action of returning. ▸
(also return match or game)
 a second contest between the same opponents. ▸a thing which has been returned, especially an unwanted ticket for an event. 
- 
(also return ticket)
 Brit. a ticket allowing travel to a place and back again.
- 
(also returns)
 a profit from an investment.
- an official report or statement submitted in response to a formal demand:![]()  census returns. ▸Law  an endorsement or report by a court officer or sheriff on a writ. 
- 
(also carriage return)
 a mechanism or key on a typewriter that returns the carriage to a fixed position at the start of a new line. ▸
(also return key)
 a key pressed on a computer keyboard to simulate a carriage return. 
- an electrical conductor bringing a current back to its source.
- Architecture  a part receding from the line of the front, for example the side of a house or of a window opening.
Phrase
  
    - by return 
(of post)
 Brit. in the next available mail delivery to the sender.
- many happy returns 
(of the day)
 a greeting to someone on their birthday.
 
  Derivative
  
    - returnable adj.
- returner n.
 
  Etymology
  ME: the verb from OFr. returner, from L. re- ‘back’ + tornare ‘to turn’; the noun via Anglo-Norman Fr.