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return

 
 
/rɪˈtɜːn/ verb

Definition

GO BACK [I] to go or come back to a place where you were before: She returned to America in 1954. I won't return from my holiday till May.
GIVE BACK [T] to give, send, or put something back where it came from: I have to return the book by Friday. He immediately returned the records to the files.
return to sth to start doing an activity again or talking about something again: I returned to work three months after Susie was born. We keep returning to the same subject. to go back to a previous condition: Life has begun to return to normal now that the war is over.
HAPPEN AGAIN [I] If something returns, it happens again: If the pains return phone the doctor.
DO THE SAME [T] to react to something that someone does or says by doing or saying the same: I returned his smile. I must return Michael's call (= telephone him because he telephoned me earlier).
return a verdict/sentence to announce if someone is guilty or not guilty or what punishment the person will be given in a law court: The jury returned a verdict of guilty.
SPORTS [T] to hit or throw a ball back to someone when playing a sport
(Definition of return verb from the Cambridge Learner's Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

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