And the others came back late (2,2)
I believe the answer is:
et al
'and the others' is the definition.
'came back late' is the wordplay.
'came back' says the letters should be written backwards.
'late' in reverse letter order is 'ET AL'.
(Other definitions for et al that I've seen before include "And the rest, to the old Romans" , "Latin abbreviation meaning 'and others'" , "Latin notation meaning and others" , "'And others, to the old Romans (2,2)'" , "and everyone else)" .)