▪ I. reˈturning, vbl. n.
[f. as prec. + -ing1.]
1. The action of the verb, in various senses.
| c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 2095 The day approcheth of hir retournynge. 1485 Caxton Chas. Gt. 34 In retournyng he demaunded..lycence to departe. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cvi. 127 At the retournynge of therle of Derby to Bourdeaux. a 1569 A. Kingsmill Confl. w. Satan (1578) 29 Repentance, or Returning is the hatred of sin and love of righteousness. 1613 Drummond of Hawthornden Cypress Grove Wks. (1711) 121 A never again returning to the Works and dolorous Felicity of Life. 1632 Lithgow Trav. i. 32 To visite Venice, in his returning home for Scotland. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. (Globe) 14 They are..asham'd of the returning, which only can make them be esteem'd wise Men. 1747 tr. Astruc's Fevers 135 Being always attended with bad digestions, these returnings, anxieties, &c. are inseparable from a slow fever. 1827 Scott Napoleon Introd., Wks. 1870 IX. 317 A late returning to ancient opinions. 1847 C. Brontë J. Eyre xxii, Neither of these returnings were very pleasant or desirable. 1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus lxiv. 210 Fair token of happy returning. |
2. A return; a backward turn or bend.
| 1613–39 I. Jones in Leoni Palladio's Archit. (1742) II. 44 The returning of the Basso-relievo. 1676 Moxon Print Lett. 50 The..Returnings of Angles..are..seen. 1715 tr. Pancirollus' Rerum Mem. I. ii. xv. 103 This Labyrinth..had only one Entrance, but innumerable Turnings and Returnings. 1893 Shedlock tr. Riemann's Dict. Mus. 810/1 Even trumpets of the 16th century show no returnings, but only winding. |
▪ II. reˈturning, ppl. a.
[f. as prec. + -ing2.]
1. That comes back or returns, in various senses.
| 1694 Kettlewell Comp. Penitent 92 With a contrite and a returning Heart. 1702 Rowe Tamerl. i. i, Hail to the Sun! from whose returning Light [etc.]. 1748 Anson's Voy. iii. viii. 370 He..resolved to cruise for these returning vessels. 1778 F. Burney Evelina iii, How grateful..must be your returning health! 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxii. IV. 705 The first faint signs of returning prosperity. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. III. 819 The innermost cylinder [in an intussuscepted bowel] is known as the entering layer and the middle one as the returning layer. |
b. Situated on a return.
| 1776 Semple Building in Water 102 The Grooves on the corner Pile, and the Tongue on the next returning Pile. |
2. returning officer, the official whose duty it is to conduct or preside at an election, and to report the result to the proper authority.
| 1729 Act 2 Geo. II, c. 24 §2 Every Sheriff, Mayor, Bailiff..or other Person, being returning Officer of any Member to serve in Parliament..shall take..the following Oath. 1764 Foote Mayor of G. 1, If your Worship has any objection to Crispin Heeltap the cobler's being returning officer? 1818 Parl. Debates 644 He objected..to the power given to the returning officers to appoint any number of constables. 1863 H. Cox Instit. i. vi. 62 An elector might bring actions at law against returning officers for refusing his vote. |
3. Elective; having the power to elect.
| 1838 W. Bell Dict. Law Scot. 354 This right to preside remained in the same burgh during the entire Parliament, that burgh being what is called the returning burgh. 1876 Daily News 20 Nov. 5/2 The Returning Board in Florida is a mixed one, in which the Democrats are understood to have a majority. |
4. returning sticks: (see return n. 13 b).