Word.ws English Dictionary

returning the favor

returning the favor is the present participle and gerund of return the favor.

Meaning of return the favor

Verb

return the favor (third-person singular simple present returns the favor, present participle returning the favor, simple past and past participle returned the favor)

  1. (idiomatic) To do something for someone, or to someone, similar to what they did for you or to you (whether good or bad).
    • I did some snow shoveling for him when he was ill, and he was kind enough to return the favor this year. [positive valence]

Questions about returning the favor

What is returning the favor the present participle and gerund of?
Returning the favor is the present participle and gerund of return the favor.

Words near returning the favor in the dictionary

  1. returning boomerang
  2. returning boomerangs
  3. returning fire
  4. returning officer
  5. returning officers
  6. returning the favor
  7. returning the favour
  8. returning to dust
  9. returning to form
  10. returning to one's muttons
  11. returnings

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: returning the favor (page history and authors); return the favor (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “returning the favor.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/returning_the_favor. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.