never to return
idiom
—used to say that someone never went back to a place
She left home never to return.
Examples of never to return in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
If your cousin embarked on a transcontinental ocean voyage only never to return, your perception of such a trip’s risk would have been swayed.
—
Allie Volpe, Vox, 3 Apr. 2025
Other, older patrons he’s seen die off, never to return for the beer he’s left for them on the bartop out of respect.
—Kyle Martin, Mercury News, 30 Mar. 2025
But the general picture is that some stuff went flying away, never to return.
—Paul Sutter, Space.com, 17 Mar. 2025
Today, at some agencies, many first-rate employees walk out the door after just a few years, taking their expertise and training with them, never to return.
—Amy Zegart, Foreign Affairs, 16 Apr. 2019
Bilodeau re-entered the game a few minutes later but was removed after only 35 seconds, never to return.
—Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 25 Jan. 2025
In black ink, cursive style, Dad harkened back to 1930s Lowell: The things lost, never to return, captured only in memory now.
—Stephan Pechdimaldji, Newsweek, 13 Dec. 2024
Escola’s brazenly ahistorical Mary Todd is one of those devilish comic creations, such as Jiminy Glick or Pee-wee Herman, that seems less invented than sprung free, never to return.
—Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2024
Their hits got banished from the radio, never to return until now.
—Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 12 Oct. 2024
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Allie Volpe, Vox, 3 Apr. 2025
Other, older patrons he’s seen die off, never to return for the beer he’s left for them on the bartop out of respect.
—Kyle Martin, Mercury News, 30 Mar. 2025
But the general picture is that some stuff went flying away, never to return.
—Paul Sutter, Space.com, 17 Mar. 2025
Today, at some agencies, many first-rate employees walk out the door after just a few years, taking their expertise and training with them, never to return.
—Amy Zegart, Foreign Affairs, 16 Apr. 2019
Bilodeau re-entered the game a few minutes later but was removed after only 35 seconds, never to return.
—Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 25 Jan. 2025
In black ink, cursive style, Dad harkened back to 1930s Lowell: The things lost, never to return, captured only in memory now.
—Stephan Pechdimaldji, Newsweek, 13 Dec. 2024
Escola’s brazenly ahistorical Mary Todd is one of those devilish comic creations, such as Jiminy Glick or Pee-wee Herman, that seems less invented than sprung free, never to return.
—Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2024
Their hits got banished from the radio, never to return until now.
—Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 12 Oct. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Never to return.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/never%20to%20return. Accessed 21 May. 2025.
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