From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishreturn to something phrasal verb1 to change back to a previous state or situation, or to change something back David waited for a moment to let his breathing return to normal.return something to something The new chairman made the cuts necessary to return the company to profitability.2 to start doing an activity, job etc that you were doing before you stopped or were interrupted SYN go back Nicholas looked up, grinned, then returned to his newspaper. The children return to school next week. Ellie needed to return to work soon after the birth.3 formal to start discussing or dealing with a subject that you have already mentioned I will return to this problem in a moment. → return→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
return to normal• After several months of therapy with a uricosuric agent, the tissue stores are dePleted and urinary uric acid returns to normal.• Dreman knew this was an anomaly and, sure enough, the interest rate picture returned to normal.• His colour had returned to normal.• Some were wounded; others so damaged by their experiences that it would take years to return to normal.• Withdrawal symptoms then typically taper off, but it usually takes a full week for a return to normal.• As soon as we stop exerting ourselves the blood pressure returns to normal again.• Life has returned to normal, more or less.• Longer-term solutions would include restoring the damaged relationships within the unit so that there is a return to normal working conditions.return to work• But as long as he continued to undergo treatment, David believed he could fend off Pamela and the need to return to work.• It was almost eight years before I could consider a return to work.• The Solidarity leader Lech Walesa also appealed for a return to work.• When will workers return to work?• Yeltsin was anxious to return to work after his bout with pneumonia.• The financial benefits gained in terms of productivity and maintaining an occupational income by returning to work are clear.• She returned to work, but again, she said delusional thoughts were getting in the way.• Twenty factories obeying Yeltsin's strike call were asked to return to work by Sobchak. 