Definition of: return

(ri·tûrn′) v.i.
1. come or go back, as to or toward a former place or condition.
2. To come back or revert in thought or speech.
3. To revert to a former owner.
4. To answer; respond.
—v.t.
5. To bring, carry, send, or put back; restore; replace.
6. To give in return for something: to return ingratitude for kindness.
7. To repay or requite, especially with an equivalent: to return a compliment.
8. To yield or produce, as a profit or interest.
9. To send back; reflect, as light or sound.
10. To render (a verdict, etc.)
11. To submit, as a report or writ, to one in authority.
12. To report or announce officially.
13. To replace (a weapon, etc.) in its holder.
14. In card games, to lead (a suit previously led by one's partner).
—noun
1. The act, process, state, or result of coming back or returning; also, that which is returned; resumption; restoration or replacement; repayment or requital; response; answer; retort; reappearance or recurrence.
2. That which accrues, as from investments, labor, or use; profit.
3. A coming back, reappearance, or recurrence, as of a periodical event or season.
4. A report, list, etc.; especially, a formal or official report, or, in the plural, a set of tabulated statistics: election returns.
5. Archit. a continuation of a dripstone, hood molding, etc., to form a termination having a different direction from the main part. b A part or face of a building at an angle with the main part of the façade.
6. The sending back by a sheriff of a writ to the court from which it was issued; also, a sheriff's report on such writ.
7. Law A brief statement, usually endorsed on a writ by the officer to whom it was issued, of what has been done under it; also, the filing of the writ thus endorsed in the office of the clerk or the tribunal whence it was issued.
8. In card games, a returned lead.
9. Any volley, stroke, or thrust received from an opponent; specifically, in a game, the sending of an object, as a tennis ball, from one player to another from whom he has received it. See synonyms under HARVEST, INCREASE, PRODUCT, PROFIT, RESTITUTION.
—adjective Of or pertaining to a return; given, taken, or done in return; returning: a return visit; a return ticket. [<OF returner]
—re·turn′er noun