Emily Dickinson Lexicon

RE-TURN', n.

1. The act of coming or going back to the same place. Takes little journeys and makes quick returns. – Dryden.
2. The act of sending back; as, the return of a borrowed book or of money lent.
3. The act of putting in the former place.
4. Retrogression; the act of moving back.
5. The act or process of coming back to a former state; as, the return of health.
6. Revolution; a periodical coming to the same point; as the return of the sun to the tropic of Cancer.
7. Periodical renewal; as, the return of the seasons or of the year.
8. Repayment; reimbursement in kind or in something equivalent, for money expended or advanced, or for labor. One occupation gives quick returns; in others, the returns are slow. The returns of the cargo were in gold. The farmer has returns in his crops.
9. Profit; advantage. From these few hours we spend in prayer, the return is great. – Taylor.
10. Remittance; payment from a distant place. – Shak.
11. Repayment; retribution; requital. Is no return due from a grateful breast? – Dryden.
12. Act of restoring or giving back; restitution. – South.
13. Either of the adjoining sides of the front of a house or ground plot, is called a return side. – Moxon.
14. In law, the rendering back or delivery of a writ, precept or execution, to the proper officer or court; or the certificate of the officer executing it, indorsed. We call the transmission of the writ to the proper officer or court, a return, and we give the same name to the certificate or official account of the officer's service or proceedings. The sherif or his subordinate officers make return of all writs and precepts. We use the same language for the sending back of a commission with the certificate of the commissioners.
15. A day in bank. The day on which the defendant is ordered to appear in court, and the sherif is to bring in the writ and report his proceedings, is called the return of the writ. – Blackstone.
16. In military and naval affairs, an official account, report or statement rendered to the commander; as, the return of men fit for duty; the return of the number of the sick; the return of provisions, ammunition, &c.