1864 Australasian (Melbourne) 24 Dec. 3/7 Being straight, they [sc. fighting boomerangs] may be thrown by either end from the right hand. Not so the shooting, or ‘come-back’ boomerang.

1880 E. H. Knight in Ann. Rep. Board of Regents Smithsonian Inst. 1879 228 The barnyeet of the Yarra..is a war weapon, and not a come-back.

1905 K. L. Parker Euahlayi Tribe xiv. 123 Here these ‘Come backs’ are never carved, are more curved than the ordinary boomerang, [etc.].

1954 B. Miles Stars my Blanket xi. 78 Three types of boomerang are used in Australia—the comeback, the thrower and the killer.

2000 Outback Mag. Oct. 116/2 The more familiar ‘comeback’ boomerang was often employed en-masse—often by a team of boys—to bring down individuals from flocks of water birds.

1883 Argus (Melbourne) 21 Sept. 5/4 One of the novelties was a comeback ewe.., by a merino ram from a crossbred ewe which took a great deal more after the sire than the dam.

1910 C. E. W. Bean On Wool Track ii. 31 A cross between a Shropshire and a merino is also a crossbred; but a cross between this last and a merino comes so near to the Australian merino..that he is called a ‘come-back’.

1958 Austral. Q. Sept. 11 The great expansion has been principally in production based on the comeback and broader merino types of sheep.

2010 D. J. Cottle Internat. Sheep & Wool Handbk. i. 27 Comebacks are similar to strong-wool Merinos, except for an absence of neck folds and more open faces.

1907 G. Siler Inside Facts on Pugilism v. 47 Should [the fight] prove a fake.., the public is not getting what it paid for, hence it is robbed. There is no comeback. The contestants are not liable to the law.

1975 Pop. Mech. Oct. 57/2 No guarantee, no comeback if you have a beef.

1991 Holiday Which? Mar. 99/1 In law, you do have a comeback: when a disaster hits your holiday destination the contract between you and the tour operator is ‘frustrated’ (ie impossible to fulfil)—and a tour operator cannot profit from that.

2015 Sunday Times (Nexis) 29 Mar. (Money section) 9 The critical message is—deal only with a regulated business... If you deal with an unregulated business, you are on your own: lose money and you'll have no comeback.

1908 K. McGaffey Sorrows of Show Girl xix. 224 It is a good thing to have a bank account to flash, so that the boob will think he will get a comeback if he does lose.

1920 F. S. Fitzgerald This Side of Paradise i. iii. 108 ‘With a little effort you could still stage a comeback.’ ‘No—I'm through.’

1924 A. J. Small Frozen Gold iii. 90 It looks as though I'm in time to congratulate you on a real come-back.

1951 L. P. Hartley My Fellow Devils xxxiv. 362 I shall go downhill... And I shall try to make a come-back.

1952 Economist 24 May 520 (heading) Comeback for Fair Trade?

1955 Times 12 Aug. 9/4 The odds against this cap, as against all other forms of headgear, staging a notable come-back are considerable.

1978 Times 7 Jan. 12/2 Bahrain's pure-bred saluki hound, which recently came close to extinction as a pedigree strain, is making a comeback.

1992 N.Y. Times 23 Aug. ii. 9/5 If ‘Cliffhanger’ is a hit, Mr. Stallone will have pulled off..a comeback.

2013 Wall St. Jrnl. 14 Sept. 43 (heading) Mid-century mixed drinks..are making a surprising comeback.

1908 J. Masefield Capt. Margaret xi. 327 ‘Is that the Happy Return?’ ‘We're the jolly come-backs.’

1955 W. de la Mare Beginning 190 It would take his revenant, his come-back, his spook,..at least ten minutes to get round..to the front door.

1908 Ogden (Utah) Standard 7 Sept. 7/1 If Joe Gans runs to form as the original ‘come-back kid’ in his third combat with Bat Nelson, the Danish mitt slinger may find that Joe only loaned him the lightweight championship.

1928 G. L. Kaufman & E. Ferber Royal Family ii. 188 There you are! You're the comeback kid!

2006 Edge (Singapore) (Nexis) 4 Sept. Market watchers see him as a comeback kid of sorts... [He] has failed before as he did spectacularly in Malaysia two decades ago.

1915 Racine (Wisconsin) Jrnl.-News 20 Feb. 9/4 Eddie Evers' good left jab, and equally good right hand jab, proved to be very uncomfortable for Gene McGovern, the ‘comeback king’.

1993 Sports Illustr. 27 Sept. 35/1 Out on the field Testaverde is still trying on the role of comeback king.

2009 Independent on Sunday 12 Apr. 17/4 Lord Mandelson would never have been the ‘comeback king’ were it not for Blair.

1935 Nevada State Jrnl. 7 Aug. 5/6 Helen Wills Moody, comeback queen of the tennis world.

1997 S. Ballenger Hell's Belles v. 149 The woman dubbed ‘The Comeback Queen’ has appeared in several movies.

2015 Investor's Business Daily (Nexis) 13 Apr. a18 Ingratiating herself to journalists in private interviews, she is scheming to transform the story from ‘Hillary is toast’ to ‘The Comeback Queen’.

1917 Ottumwa (Iowa) Daily Rev. 13 Mar. 2/1 Pat Leeny is well along the ‘come-back’ trail to his former official prestige.

1991 Boston June 114/1 Vintage clothing long since put out to pasture is guided onto the comeback trail by the skilled hands of clothing restylers.

2013 Times (Nexis) 23 May 45 The former New York congressman, who two years ago accidentally sent a close-up picture of himself in an aroused state to 45,000 people on Twitter, is on the comeback trail, announcing that he wants to be the city's mayor.