Re·turn v. i. [imp. & p. p. Returned p. pr. & vb. n. Returning.]
 1. To turn back; to go or come again to the same place or condition. “Return to your father's house.”
    On their embattled ranks the waves return.   --Milton.
    If they returned out of bondage, it must be into a state of freedom.   --Locke.
    Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.   --Gen. iii. 19.
 2. To come back, or begin again, after an interval, regular or irregular; to appear again.
 With the year
 Seasons return; but not me returns
 Day or the sweet approach of even or morn.   --Milton.
 3. To speak in answer; to reply; to respond.
    He said, and thus the queen of heaven returned.   --Pope.
 4. To revert; to pass back into possession.
    And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David.   --1Kings xii. 26.
 5. To go back in thought, narration, or argument. “But to return to my story.”


 returning
      adj 1: tending to return to an earlier state [syn: reverting]
      2: tending to be turned back [syn: returning(a), reversive]