?c1400 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (BL Add. 10340) (1868) iii. met. ii. l. 1883 Alle þinges seken aȝein in to hir propre cours, and alle þinges reioisen hem of hir retournynge [L. reditu] aȝein to hir nature.

c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 1237 The day approcheth of hir retournynge That euerich sholde an hundred knyghtes brynge The bataille to darreyne.

1485 W. Caxton tr. Thystorye & Lyf Charles the Grete sig. bvj/2 In retournyng he demaunded..lycence to departe.

1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. cvi. 127 At the retournynge of therle of Derby to Bourdeaux.

a1569 A. Kingsmill Conf. containing Conflict with Satan 29 in Most Excellent & Comfortable Treat. (new ed.) (1578) Repentance, or Returning is the hatred of sin and love of righteousness.

1623 W. Drummond Cypresse Groue in Flowres of Sion 58 A neuer againe returning to the workes and dolorous felicitie of life.

1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. i. 32 To visite Venice, in his returning home for Scotland.

1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 16 They are..asham'd of the returning, which only can make them be esteem'd wise Men.

1747 tr. J. Astruc Academical Lect. Fevers 135 Being always attended with bad digestions, these returnings, anxieties, &c. are inseparable from a slow fever.

1827 W. Scott Life Napoleon II. x. 398 A late returning to ancient opinions.

1847 C. Brontë Jane Eyre II. vii. 186 Neither of these returnings were very pleasant or desirable.

1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus Poems lxiv. 210 Fair token of happy returning.

1920 E. Wharton Age of Innoc. (1921) ii. xxv. 249 If she should finally decide on returning to Europe—returning to her husband—it would not be because her old life tempted her.

1951 Baseball Digest Aug. 61/2 But Zoe Ann was dead set against my returning to pitching.

1980 R. Duncan New Direct. in Prose & Poetry 40 47 What we have shared, our life in me, The leavings and returnings of these years.

2007 T. L. Givens People of Paradox ii. v. 78 Caroline Crosby..was instructed daily by her husband upon his returning from the Hebrew school—and she eventually acquired reading proficiency.

?1564 Anno quinto reginæ Elizabethe (new ed.) f. 63 The saide Sheriffe or Sheriffes,..hauyng commaundement by the sayde Iustices to omit the retournynge of suche issues, as is aforesaid, vpon suche Iurour or Iurours, shalbe therein discharged of the penalties aforesaide.

1610 J. Healey tr. St. Augustine Citie of God xxi. xi. 853 Those words haue a reference to the returning of euill for euill in our nature.

1680 Tryal T. Gascoyne 54 If you please to let me declare what I know about the returning of the money.

1772 J. Marshall Travels 1768–70 III. iv. iv. 83 The returning of opium would also be left, if it was not advantageous to Batavia.

1806 D. Bogue Ess. on Divine Authority of New Test. (ed. 2) ix. 282 There is an unwearied study to cultivate humility, meekness, compassion, forgiveness of injuries, beneficence, and the returning of good for evil.

1843 Jack's Edition of Life at Sea xxxv. 376 On the boy's going down to his master's cabin to procure a book, the returning of which he had requested of him, the man followed.

1864 W. Phillips Speeches 182 The statute of 1843..was clear and official notice to him what ‘objection’ the Commonwealth had to the returning of slaves.

1921 L. Eichler Bk. of Etiquette I. ii. vii. 287 A constant giving and returning of hospitality.

1966 Times 19 Oct. 13/6 The existence of the death penalty was undoubtedly in the past a strong factor in the returning of many manslaughter verdicts on charges of murder.

2002 N. Sharp Saltwater People ii. 37 During the southeast season, a time of turtle scarcity, a collective rite involves blessings for the sea and the returning of the turtle bones to it.

1676 J. Moxon Regulæ Trium Ordinum 50 The..Returnings of Angles..are..seen.

1715 tr. G. Panciroli Hist. Memorable Things Lost I. ii. xv. 103 This Labyrinth..had only one Entrance, but innumerable Turnings and Returnings.

1742 G. Leoni Notes I. Jones in N. Dubois & G. Leoni tr. A. Palladio Architecture (ed. 3) II. iv. 44/1 The returning of the Basso relievo.

1897 J. S. Shedlock tr. K. W. J. H. Riemann Dict. Music 810/1 Even trumpets of the 16th century show no returnings, but only winding.

1932 T. L. Heath Greek Astron. 55 The dances of these same gods, their comings alongside one another and the returnings of their orbits upon themselves.

1976 Art Bull. 58 278/1 This favored leaf motif with serrated edges and prominent veinings is varied only slightly from the graceful, elegant continuities and returnings of surfaces upon the London ivory.

1581 J. Studley tr. Seneca Hippolytus iv, in T. Newton et al. tr. Seneca 10 Trag. f. 64 The righteous Gods will make for him a right returning way.

1599 T. Hill Schoole of Skil ii. 237 Of the same Proclus it is called a Tropicke (which is in English) a returning cyrcle.

1694 J. Kettlewell Compan. for Penitent 92 With a contrite and a returning Heart.

1702 N. Rowe Tamerlane i. i Hail to the Sun! from whose returning Light [etc.].

1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson iii. viii. 370 He..resolved..to cruise for these returning vessels.

1778 F. Burney Evelina I. iii. 12 How grateful..must be your returning health!

1800 Scots Mag. Jan. 45/1 We wish, on each returning year, The portion of the good and fair.

1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. xxii. 705 The first faint signs of returning prosperity.

1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. 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.

1929 L. H. Creer Utah & Nation iii. 32 While crossing the Sierras, he met the returning members of the Mormon Battalion.

1943 I. Spafford Building Curriculum for Gen. Educ. xx. 335 The returning students represented almost an exactly proportionate cross section of the usual population.

1968 R. W. Fairbridge Encycl. Geomorphol. 1102/1 In calm weather, the backwash of the returning water [on a beach] has little energy.

1988 Los Angeles Times 21 Feb. vi. 1/2 She would start a publication for ‘returning’ women, those re-entering the work force after ending marriages or raising families.

2004 U.S. News & World Rep. 2 Aug. 29/1 On a dusty plain, a tent city has sprung up to accommodate the hundreds of returning Kurds.

1715 B. Willis Notitia Parl. I. Pref. p. viii I find no other new returning Borough all his Reign except Buckingham, Berwick, and Orford.

1838 W. Bell Dict. Law Scotl. 354 This right to preside remained in the same burgh during the entire Parliament, that burgh being what is called the returning burgh.

1851 Times 30 Dec. 4/6 In anticipation of the vacancy which will be thus occasioned, a stir is making in the political circles of the returning borough.

1913 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 47 27 The county is regarded as the unit for canvassing the returns for state offices, though the towns, themselves, constitute the returning districts.

1954 J. S. Roskell Commons in Parl. 1422 i. i. 8 A brief summary of the results of the elections, both of the knights of the shire and the parliamentary burgesses from the returning boroughs within the bailiwick.

1999 I. G. C. Hutchinson in R. Romanelli How did they become Voters? 428 Hawick, hitherto unrepresented, was made the returning burgh for a Border Burghs constituency which included Galashiels and Selkirk.

1776 G. Semple Treat. Building in Water 102 The Grooves on the corner Pile, and the Tongue on the next returning Pile.

1872 Congress. Globe 10 Jan. 341/2 He does not pretend that the act of rejecting these votes was as the act of the returning board, consisting of the Governor, attorney general, and secretary of State, but as the act of the Governor himself.

1919 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 30 30 He..never questions his being counted in over Tilden by the famous returning boards in South Carolina and Louisiana.

2004 Independent 2 Nov. 30 The Democratic candidate wins the Florida election by 20,000 votes [in 1876]. However, the Board of Registration and the Returning Board are both controlled by Republicans.

1728 C. Cibber Vanbrugh's Provok'd Husband i. i. 13 He had scarce a Vote, in the whole Town, beside the Returning Officer.

1764 S. Foote Mayor of Garret i. 15 If your worship has any objection to Crispin Steel-Tap, the Cobler's being returning officer?

1818 Parl. Deb. 1st Ser. 644 He objected..to the power given to the returning officers to appoint any number of constables.

1863 H. Cox Inst. Eng. Govt. i. vi. 62 An elector might bring actions at law against returning officers for refusing his vote.

1911 E. E. Stenberg Principal Electoral Syst. 24 The Returning Officer then proceeds to re-examine and transfer such candidate's Ballot Papers, according to the preferences shown thereon.

1964 Western Polit. Q. 17 60 The actual names of the poll captains were taken from lists supplied by the party headquarters or from lists of party-selected enumerators submitted to the local returning officer.

2004 Times Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) (Nexis) 28 June a3 The counted ballots and other election documents are sealed in the ballot box and delivered to the returning officer for validation.

1760 New & Compl. Dict. Arts & Sci. IV. 2740/1 The returning-sticks, or, as others call them, the returns, or the tumblers, or pullies, to which the tires are tied, to clear the course of cords through the high-lisses.