playback

1 of 2

noun

play·​back ˈplā-ˌbak 

: an act or instance of reproducing recorded sound or pictures often immediately after recording

play back

2 of 2

verb

played back; playing back; plays back

transitive verb

: to perform a playback of (a usually recently recorded disc or tape)

Examples of playback in a Sentence

Noun

The band listened to a playback of their first recording.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The earbuds’ batteries can provide up to 6.5 hours of playback from a single charge, plus there is a total of 28 hours playing time when recharged using the compact storage case. —Mark Sparrow, Forbes.com, 7 May 2025

In addition, both machines feature extra-long battery life — up to 23 hours of video playback and 16 hours of active web browsing on the Surface Laptop, and 16 and 12 hours, respectively on the Surface Pro tablet. —Bob O'Donnell, USA Today, 7 May 2025

Verb

Music from an external device, such as a smartphone, can now be played back in high-quality, taking full advantage of the SP4000’s digital processing power. —Mark Sparrow, Forbes.com, 9 May 2025

Innovations in tech lead to a memory implant, which records everything the user sees and can be played back exactly as it was seen. —Barry Levitt, Time, 10 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1929, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1949, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for playback

• aback
• anzac
• attack
• backpack
• backtrack
• bareback
• blackjack
• brownback
• buyback
• callback
• cognac
• comeback

Kids Definition

playback

1 of 2 noun

play·​back ˈplā-ˌbak 

: the action of reproducing recorded sound or pictures often immediately after recording

play back

2 of 2 verb

(ˈ)plā-ˈbak

: to perform a playback of (a disc or tape)