(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
When you ~ to a place, you go back there after you have been away.
Blair will ~ to London tonight...
So far more than 350,000 people have ~ed home.
VERB: V to/from n, V adv
2.
Your ~ is your arrival back at a place where you had been before.
Ryle explained the reason for his sudden ~ to London.
N-SING: with poss
3.
If you ~ something that you have borrowed or taken, you give it back or put it back.
I enjoyed the book and said so when I ~ed it...
VERB: V n
•
Return is also a noun.
The main demand of the Indians is for the ~ of one-and-a-half-million acres of forest to their communities.
N-SING: usu N of n
4.
If you ~ something somewhere, you put it back where it was.
He ~ed the notebook to his jacket.
VERB: V n to n
5.
If you ~ someone’s action, you do the same thing to them as they have just done to you. If you ~ someone’s feeling, you feel the same way towards them as they feel towards you.
Back at the station the Chief Inspector ~ed the call...
VERB: V n
6.
If a feeling or situation ~s, it comes back or happens again after a period when it was not present.
Official reports in Algeria suggest that calm is ~ing to the country...
VERB: V
•
Return is also a noun.
It was like the ~ of his youth.
N-SING: with supp
7.
If you ~ to a state that you were in before, you start being in that state again.
Life has improved and ~ed to normal.
VERB: V to n
•
Return is also a noun.
He made an uneventful ~ to normal health...
N-SING: N to n
8.
If you ~ to a subject that you have mentioned before, you begin talking about it again.
The power of the Church is one theme all these writers ~ to.
VERB: V to n
9.
If you ~ to an activity that you were doing before, you start doing it again.
At that stage he will be 52, young enough to ~ to politics if he wishes to do so.
VERB: V to n
•
Return is also a noun.
He has not ruled out the shock possibility of a ~ to football.
N-SING: N to n
10.
When a judge or jury ~s a verdict, they announce whether they think the person on trial is guilty or not.
They ~ed a verdict of not guilty.
VERB: V n
11.
A ~ ticket is a ticket for a journey from one place to another and then back again. (mainly BRIT)
He bought a ~ ticket and boarded the next train for home.
ADJ: usu ADJ n
•
Return is also a noun. (in AM, usually use round trip )
BA and Air France charge more than ?400 for a ~ to Nice.
N-COUNT
see also day ~
12.
The ~ trip or journey is the part of a journey that takes you back to where you started from.
Buy an extra ticket for the ~ trip.
? outward
ADJ: ADJ n
13.
The ~ on an investment is the profit that you get from it. (BUSINESS)
Profits have picked up this year but the ~ on capital remains tiny...
N-COUNT
14.
A tax ~ is an official form that you fill in with details about your income and personal situation, so that the income tax you owe can be calculated.
He was convicted of filing false income tax ~s...
Anyone with slight complications in their tax affairs is likely to be asked to fill in a ~.
N-COUNT
see also tax ~
15.
When it is someone’s birthday, people sometimes say ‘Many happy ~s’ to them as a way of greeting them.
CONVENTION formulae
16.
If you do something in ~ for what someone else has done for you, you do it because they did that thing for you.
The deal offers an increase in policy value in ~ for giving up guarantees.
PHRASE
17.
If you say that you have reached the point of no ~, you mean that you now have to continue with what you are doing and it is too late to stop.
The release of Mr Nelson Mandela marked the point of no ~ in South Africa’s movement away from apartheid.
PHRASE
18.
to ~ fire: see fire