How to use return in a sentence
40 example sentences · verb, noun
Return means to come or go back (to a place or person). Example: “Although the birds fly north for the summer, they return here in winter.”
Examples of return by meaning
verbTo come or go back (to a place or person).
- Although the birds fly north for the summer, they return here in winter.
- “I came through and I shall return,” General MacArthur declared when he spoke at Terowie of the beleagured Philippines.1942, “‘I Came Through; I Shall Return”, in The Advertiser
- As soon as Julia returned with a constable, Timothy, who was on the point of exhaustion, prepared to give over to him gratefully.1963, Margery Allingham, “Meeting Point”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 232
verbTo recur; to come again.
- Winter returns every year.
verbTo place or put back something where it had been.
- Please return your hands to your lap.
- Strain the stock and return it to the pan.
verbTo give something back to its original holder or owner.
- You should return the library book within one month.
verbTo reciprocate (a visit or telephone call, electronic message, etc.).
- Hello, I’m just returning your call. What did you want to talk about?
- I wrote to my ex-wife but she won't return my emails.
verbTo take back something to a vendor for a complete or partial refund.
- Yeah, it’s $600,000 but, if it doesn’t work, you can always return it. As long as it’s undamaged and in the original packaging, I’ll give you a full refund.
verbTo bat the ball back over the net in response to a serve.
- The player couldn’t return the serve because it was so fast.
verbTo play a card as a result of another player’s lead.
- If one players plays a trump, the others must return a trump.
More sentences with return
- Let us pray that peace may soon return to our war-torn homeland.From the entry may
- The record companies don't get as good a return on merchandising artists under contract.From the entry merchandise
- The Communist Party has a policy of returning power to the workers.From the entry policy
- We went primrosing on Sunday and returned with a full basket.From the entry primrose
- I am enclosing an application form, which I should be grateful if you'd sign and return.From the entry which
- The court returned a sentence of guilt in the first charge, but innocence in the second.From the entry sentence
- Click the button that looks like a house to return to your browser's home page.From the entry button
- The knight swore not to return to the palace until he had found the treasure.From the entry swear
- All loans from the library, whether books or audio material, must be returned within two weeks.From the entry loan
- Users who dislike the new visual layout can return to classic mode.From the entry classic
- I returned to resume my place but my assistant had already annexed my chair.From the entry annex
- When I returned home, I found my house and belongings in a most terrible way.From the entry way
- I kept returning there because I felt a strange attraction towards the place.From the entry attraction
- Even if you pass sqrt an integer, it returns a real number.From the entry real number
- I was quite ill for a while, but latterly seem to have returned to normal.From the entry normal
- The police recovered the stolen car and returned it to its owner.From the entry owner
- The composition modulates upwards through the cycle of fifths, eventually returning to the original key.From the entry cycle of fifths
- After returning from their Halloween trick-or-treating, the kids settled down to enjoy their booty of candies.From the entry booty
- Richard obtained a divorce from his wife some years ago, but hasn't returned to the dating scene.From the entry divorce
- Her mother was wild with fear when she didn't return home after the party.From the entry wild
- After mending the lion's leg, we returned him to the wild.From the entry wild
- Bert leeched hundreds of files from the BBS, but never uploaded anything in return.From the entry leech
- He broke his promise: he said he'd return my jewellery, but never did.From the entry promise
- The sailor rushed to the flag hoist to dip the flag in return.From the entry dip
- Some uncertainties remain; an especially salient uncertainty is the timing of their return trip.From the entry uncertainty
- I was loath to return to the office without the Henderson file.From the entry loath
- All employees are obliged to complete a tax return every year.From the entry obliged
- Whichever book you borrow, be sure to return it to the library on time.From the entry whichever
Meaning of return
- verb To come or go back (to a place or person).
- verb To go back in thought, narration, or argument.
- verb To recur; to come again.
Questions about return in a sentence
- How do you use return in a sentence?
- Return is used as a verb and noun. For example: “Although the birds fly north for the summer, they return here in winter.”
- What is a short sentence with return?
- “Winter returns every year.”
- What does return mean?
- Return means to come or go back (to a place or person).
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: return (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “How to use return in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/return. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.