Return of spirit in debate (5)
I believe the answer is:
forum
'debate' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'return of spirit' is the wordplay.
'return' is a reversal indicator.
'spirit' becomes 'rum' (alcoholic spirit).
'of' written backwards gives 'fo'.
'fo'+'rum'='FORUM'
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for forum that I've seen before include "place for debate" , "Place of assembly for the people in ancient Greece" , "Online message board" , "Public meeting or assembly for open discussion" , "Place to meet people" .)