return
go or come back to place, condition, or activity where one has been before
How often you will meet it
Rank 393 of 71,295 words measured. It occurs 50,329 times across 139,755 chapters — 0.024% of every word in the library.
It belongs to the first 500 words, the band worth learning before any other.
What it means
verb
- go or come back to place, condition, or activity where one has been before return to your native landthe professor returned to his teaching position after serving as Dean
- give back also: render render money
- go back to a previous state also: revert, retrovert, regress, turn back We reverted to the old rules
- go back to something earlier also: hark back, come back, recall This harks back to a previous remark of his
- bring back to the point of departure also: take back, bring back
- return in kind return a complimentreturn her love
return in real books
Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.
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This time the wind did not cease with the return of the snow.
Ethan Frome · Edith Wharton · Chapter 1
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I may return as a stowaway, but anyhow expect me, and prepare the fatted outlet.
Punch — Volume 99, August 16, 1890 · Various · Chapter 1
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Leave your painted comforts; I 'll make Italian cut-works in their guts If ever I return.
The White Devil · John Webster · Chapter 1
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Too cold it is for thee, I fear, in truth, Return and get thy cloak, my little Ruth.
The White Christmas and other Merry · Walter Ben Hare · Chapter 1
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In my return, I perceived many wild birds, and was terrified by some seals which made off to sea.
The Life and Most Surprising Adventures · Daniel Defoe · Chapter 1