the act or fact of returning as by going or coming back or bringing, sending, or giving back: the return of the Jews from the Diaspora; We should appreciate your return of the book immediately.
a recurrence: the return of the moon each month.
reciprocation, repayment, or requital: profits in return for outlay.
response or reply.
a person or thing that is returned: returns of mill goods.
the gain realized on an exchange of goods.
Often returns.
a yield or profit, as from labor, land, business, or investment: He received a quick return on his money.
Also called tax return.
a statement, on an officially prescribed form, of income, deductions, exemptions, etc., and taxes due.
Usually returns.
an official or unofficial report on a count of votes, candidates elected, etc.: election returns.
Architecture.
- the continuation of a molding, projection, etc., in a different direction.
- a side or part that falls away from the front of any straight or flat member or area.
a tablelike extension attached at a right angle to a desk at typing height, for holding a typewriter, computer, etc.
a key or lever on a typewriter or other business machine that returns the carriage to the extreme right, or the typing element to the extreme left, for the beginning of a new line.
Sports.
- the act of returning a ball.
- the ball that is returned.
Football.
a runback of a kick, intercepted pass, or fumble recovery.
Economics.
yield per unit as compared to the cost per unit involved in a specific industrial process.
Law.
- the bringing or sending back of various documents, such as a writ, summons, or subpoena, with a brief written report usually endorsed upon it, by a sheriff, to the court from which it issued.
- a certified document by a great variety of officers, as assessors, collectors, and election officers.
- the report or certificate endorsed in such documents.
Cards.
a lead that responds to a partner's lead.
Theater.
a flat or drapery parallel to the tormentor for masking the offstage area and often completing the downstage part of a set.
returns,
- merchandise shipped back to a supplier from a retailer or distributor as unsold or unsalable.
- merchandise returned to a retailer by a consumer.