to go or come back to a place, situation, or condition after being away
After school, the children will return home for dinner.
The swallows return every spring to build nests under the old bridge.
✦ From Old French 'retourner', from Latin 're-' (back) + 'tornare' (to turn).
to give, send, or put something back to the person or place it came from
Could you return the book to the library for me?
She politely returned the jacket she had borrowed from her friend.
✦ See Sense 1.
to produce or yield a financial profit or result
The investment is expected to return ten percent per year.
Government bonds usually return less than stocks but are safer.
✦ Financial sense developed in the 17th century from the idea of money ‘coming back’ to the investor.
