to turn back; to go or come again to the same place or condition.-to come back, or begin again, after an interval, regular or irregular; to appear again.-to speak in answer; to reply; to respond.-to revert; to pass back into possession.-to go back in thought, narration, or argument.-to bring, carry, send, or turn, back; as, to return a borrowed book, or a hired horse.-to repay; as, to return borrowed money.-to give in requital or recompense; to requite.-to give back in reply; as, to return an answer; to return thanks.-to retort; to throw back; as, to return the lie.-to report, or bring back and make known.-to render, as an account, usually an official account, to a superior; to report officially by a list or statement; as, to return a list of stores, of killed or wounded; to return the result of an election.-hence, to elect according to the official report of the election officers.-to bring or send back to a tribunal, or to an office, with a certificate of what has been done; as, to return a writ.-to convey into official custody, or to a general depository.-to bat (the ball) back over the net.-to lead in response to the lead of one's partner; as, to return a trump; to return a diamond for a club.-the act of returning (intransitive), or coming back to the same place or condition; as, the return of one long absent; the return of health; the return of the seasons, or of an anniversary.-the act of returning (transitive), or sending back to the same place or condition; restitution; repayment; requital; retribution; as, the return of anything borrowed, as a book or money; a good return in tennis.-that which is returned.-a payment; a remittance; a requital.-an answer; as, a return to one's question.-an account, or formal report, of an action performed, of a duty discharged, of facts or statistics, and the like; as, election returns; a return of the amount of goods produced or sold; especially, in the plural, a set of tabulated statistics prepared for general information.-the profit on, or advantage received from, labor, or an investment, undertaking, adventure, etc.-the continuation in a different direction, most often at a right angle, of a building, face of a building, or any member, as a molding or mold; -- applied to the shorter in contradistinction to the longer; thus, a facade of sixty feet east and west has a return of twenty feet north and south.-the rendering back or delivery of writ, precept, or execution, to the proper officer or court.-the certificate of an officer stating what he has done in execution of a writ, precept, etc., indorsed on the document.-the sending back of a commission with the certificate of the commissioners.-a day in bank. see return day, below.-an official account, report, or statement, rendered to the commander or other superior officer; as, the return of men fit for duty; the return of the number of the sick; the return of provisions, etc.-the turnings and windings of a trench or mine.