- return
- return vb1 Return, revert, recur, recrudesce are comparable when they mean to go or come back (as to a person or to a place or condition). The same distinctions in implications and connotations are evident in their corresponding nouns return, reversion, recurrence, recrudescenceReturn is the ordinary term of this group; it usually implies either a going back to a starting place or a source{
they returned as wolves return to cover, satisfied with the slaughter that they had done— Kipling
}{the sickness of a child caused their sudden return
}or it may imply, especially in the case of the noun, a coming back to a former or proper place or condition{now shall the kingdom return to the house of David—7 Kings 12:26
}{look forward to the return of spring
}{he was greeted with enthusiasm on his return home
}{he returns here tomorrow
}{sorry to hear you had a return of your rheumatism— Whitman
}Revert and reversion (see also REVERSION 2) most frequently imply a going back to a previous, often a lower, state or condition{the conception of a lordly splendid destiny for the human race, to which we are false when we revert to wars and other atavistic follies— Russell
}{in the last hours of his life he reverted to the young man he had been in the gutter days in Vienna— Shirer
}{the reversion to barbarism in political trials and punishments— Cobban
}Both terms, however, are often used when a return after an interruption is implied (as to a previous owner, to a previous topic, or to a previous decision){when the lease expires, the property reverts to the lessor
}{thought that he would not pass between these two, then he decided that he would hurry up and do so, then he reverted to his former decision— H. G. Wells
}{on reversion to private trading in aluminium in this country— Financial Times
}Recur and recurrence imply a return, or sometimes repeated returns at more or less regular intervals, of something that has previously happened, that has previously affected a person or thing, that has previously been in one's mind, or that has been previously known or experienced{the idea kept recurring, and growing stronger each time it came back— Cloete
}{they came back to her as a dream recurs— Bennett
}{a melancholy tempered by recurrences of faith and resignation and simple joy— Joyce
}{incessant recurrence without variety breeds tedium; the overiterated becomes the monotonous— Lowes
}Recrudesce and the more frequent recrudescence imply a return to life or activity; usually the terms imply a breaking out again of something that has been repressed, suppressed, or kept under control{the general influence . . . which is liable every now and then to recrudesce in his absence— Gurney
}{the recrudescence of an epidemic of influenza
}Analogous words: *advert, revert: *turn, rotate, revolve: restore, *renew: *recover, regain: reverberate, repercuss, *rebound2 *reciprocate, retaliate, requiteAnalogous words: repay, recompense, compensate (see PAY): *give, bestowreturn n reversion, recurrence, recrudescence (see under RETURN vb)
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.