return

When you return, you go back somewhere after being away. If you haven't been to Disney World since your fifth birthday, it might be fun to return when you're older.

There are many ways to return — you can come back to a place, state, or activity, the way you return to jogging after getting a drink, or return to a feeling of sadness after brief cheer. You also might return something to someone else: "I need to return the book she loaned me," or "He returns her smile across the crowded room." A return can be a comment, a lobbed tennis ball, or even a financial profit.

Definitions of return
  1. verb
    go or come back to place, condition, or activity where one has been before
    “return to your native land”
    “the professor returned to his teaching position after serving as Dean”
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    resurrect, rise, uprise
    return from the dead
    revisit
    visit again
    retrace, trace
    to go back over again
    backtrack, double back, turn back
    retrace one's course
    cut back, flash back
    return in time
    home
    return home accurately from a long distance
    go home, head home
    return home
    boomerang
    return to the initial position from where it came; like a boomerang
    bounce
    come back after being refused
    type of:
    go, locomote, move, travel
    change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
  2. verb
    be restored
    “Her old vigor returned”
    synonyms: come back
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    type of:
    re-emerge, reappear
    appear again
  3. verb
    go back to a previous state
    synonyms: regress, retrovert, revert, turn back
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    fall back, lapse, recidivate, regress, relapse, retrogress
    go back to bad behavior
    resile
    return to the original position or state after being stretched or compressed
    go back, recover, recuperate
    regain a former condition after a financial loss
    rally, rebound
    return to a former condition
    type of:
    change by reversal, reverse, turn
    change to the contrary
  4. verb
    be inherited by
    “The land returned to the family”
    synonyms: devolve, fall, pass
    accrue, fall
    come into the possession of
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    types:
    fall, light
    fall to somebody by assignment or lot
    type of:
    change hands, change owners
    be transferred to another owner
  5. verb
    go back to something earlier
    synonyms: come back, hark back, recall
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    types:
    go back, recur
    return in thought or speech to something
    type of:
    denote, refer
    have as a meaning
  6. verb
    return to a previous position; in mathematics
    “The point returned to the interior of the figure”
  7. noun
    the act of going back to a prior location
    “they set out on their return to the base camp”
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    types:
    reentry
    the act of entering again
    remand
    the act of sending an accused person back into custody to await trial (or the continuation of the trial)
    type of:
    motion, move, movement
    the act of changing location from one place to another
  8. noun
    a coming to or returning home
    “on his return from Australia we gave him a welcoming party”
    synonyms: homecoming
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    repatriation
    the act of returning to the country of origin
    type of:
    arrival
    the act of arriving at a certain place
  9. noun
    the act of someone appearing again
    synonyms: reappearance
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    comeback
    return by a celebrity to some previously successful activity
    type of:
    appearance
    the act of appearing in public view
  10. noun
    the occurrence of a change in direction back in the opposite direction
    synonyms: coming back
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    type of:
    turn, turning
    a movement in a new direction
  11. noun
    happening again (especially at regular intervals)
    “the return of spring”
    synonyms: recurrence
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    types:
    atavism, reversion, throwback
    a reappearance of an earlier characteristic
    flashback
    an unexpected but vivid recurrence of a past experience (especially a recurrence of the effects of an hallucinogenic drug taken much earlier)
    type of:
    repeat, repetition
    an event that repeats
  12. verb
    give back
    synonyms: render
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    types:
    feed back, resubmit
    submit (information) again to a program or automatic system
    type of:
    give
    transfer possession of something concrete or abstract to somebody
  13. verb
    pay back
    synonyms: give back, refund, repay
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    types:
    reimburse
    pay back for some expense incurred
    restitute, restore
    give or bring back
    type of:
    pay
    give money, usually in exchange for goods or services
  14. verb
    bring back to the point of departure
    synonyms: bring back, take back
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    type of:
    bring, convey, take
    take something or somebody with oneself somewhere
  15. verb
    return in kind
    “return a compliment”
    “return her love”
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    types:
    redound
    return or recoil
    type of:
    reciprocate
    act, feel, or give mutually or in return
  16. verb
    make a return
    “return a kickback”
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    type of:
    carry, transport
    move while supporting, either in a vehicle or in one's hands or on one's body
  17. verb
    submit (a report, etc.) to someone in authority
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    types:
    report out
    return a bill after consideration and revision to a legislative body
    type of:
    subject, submit
    refer for judgment or consideration
  18. verb
    elect again
    synonyms: reelect
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    type of:
    elect
    select by a vote for an office or membership
  19. verb
    give or supply
    synonyms: generate, give, render, yield
    give, yield
    cause to happen or be responsible for
    establish, give
    bring about
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    type of:
    create, make, produce
    create or manufacture a man-made product
  20. noun
    a reciprocal group action
    “in return we gave them as good as we got”
    synonyms: getting even, paying back
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    payment, requital
    an act of requiting; returning in kind
    retaliation, revenge
    action taken in return for an injury or offense
    reciprocation
    the act of making or doing something in return
    tit for tat
    an equivalent given in return
    payback, retribution, vengeance
    the act of taking revenge (harming someone in retaliation for something harmful that they have done) especially in the next life
    reprisal
    a retaliatory action against an enemy in wartime
    type of:
    group action
    action taken by a group of people
  21. noun
    getting something back again
    synonyms: regaining, restitution, restoration
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    types:
    clawback
    finding a way to take money back from people that they were given in another way
    type of:
    acquisition
    the act of contracting or assuming or acquiring possession of something
  22. noun
    a tennis stroke that sends the ball back to the other player
    “he won the point on a cross-court return”
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    backhand, backhand shot, backhand stroke
    a return made with the back of the hand facing the direction of the stroke
    chop, chop shot
    a tennis return made with a downward motion that puts backspin on the ball
    drive
    (sports) a hard straight return (as in tennis or squash)
    dink, drop shot
    a soft return so that the tennis ball drops abruptly after crossing the net
    forehand, forehand shot, forehand stroke
    (sports) a return made with the palm of the hand facing the direction of the stroke (as in tennis or badminton or squash)
    get
    a return on a shot that seemed impossible to reach and would normally have resulted in a point for the opponent
    ground stroke
    a tennis return made by hitting the ball after it has bounced once
    half volley
    a tennis return made by hitting the ball immediately after it bounces
    lob
    an easy return of a tennis ball in a high arc
    overhead, smash
    a hard return hitting the tennis ball above your head
    passing shot
    a tennis return that passes an opponent who has approached the net
    volley
    a tennis return made by hitting the ball before it bounces
    forehand drive
    (sports) hard straight return made on the forehand side (as in tennis or badminton or squash)
    backhand drive
    a hard straight return made on the backhand side
    two-handed backhand
    a backhand shot made holding the racquet in both hands
    type of:
    tennis shot, tennis stroke
    the act of hitting a tennis ball with a tennis racket
  23. noun
    (American football) the act of running back the ball after a kickoff or punt or interception or fumble
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    run, running, running game, running play
    (American football) a play in which a player attempts to carry the ball through or past the opposing team
  24. noun
    the income or profit arising from such transactions as the sale of land or other property
    “the average return was about 5%”
    synonyms: issue, payoff, proceeds, take, takings, yield
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    economic rent, rent
    the return derived from cultivated land in excess of that derived from the poorest land cultivated under similar conditions
    payback
    financial return or reward (especially returns equal to the initial investment)
    type of:
    income
    the financial gain (earned or unearned) accruing over a given period of time
  25. noun
    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”
    synonyms: income tax return, tax return
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    amended return
    a tax return that corrects the information in an earlier return
    declaration of estimated tax, estimated tax return
    return required of a taxpayer whose tax withheld from income does not meet the tax liability for the year
    false return
    an incorrect income tax return
    information return
    a return that provides information to the tax collector but does not compute the tax liability
    joint return
    a return filed by a husband and wife
    type of:
    instrument, legal document, legal instrument, official document
    (law) a document that states some contractual relationship or grants some right
  26. verb
    answer back
    synonyms: come back, rejoin, repay, retort, riposte
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    type of:
    answer, reply, respond
    react verbally
  27. verb
    pass down
    synonyms: deliver, render
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    type of:
    communicate, pass, pass along, pass on, put across
    transmit information
  28. noun
    a quick reply to a question or remark (especially a witty or critical one)
    synonyms: comeback, counter, rejoinder, replication, retort, riposte
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    types:
    back talk, backtalk, lip, mouth, sass, sassing
    an impudent or insolent rejoinder
    type of:
    reply, response
    the speech act of continuing a conversational exchange
  29. noun
    the key on electric typewriters or computer keyboards that causes a carriage return and a line feed
    synonyms: return key
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    type of:
    key
    a lever (as in a keyboard) that actuates a mechanism when depressed
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