: an act or instance of reproducing recorded sound or pictures often immediately after recording
played back; playing back; plays back
: 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
Ashley Strickland, CNN, 15 June 2024
Press the bottom once to control playback, as well as to answer or end calls.
—PCMAG, 14 June 2024
Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 19 Apr. 2024
Within the system, members of the writing team can create content, play back that content in a preview mode, define routes between content modules, and find places for users to enter free text, which our AI system then parses.
—Casey Sackett, IEEE Spectrum, 26 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for playback 
Noun
And after hearing the playback, the elephants responded most strongly to the calls originally intended for them.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN, 15 June 2024
Press the bottom once to control playback, as well as to answer or end calls.
—PCMAG, 14 June 2024
Verb
That child’s play back in school Is forgiven under my rule
Kelce had a rough college experience; his immaturity almost cost him a Super Bowl–winning NFL career.
—Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 19 Apr. 2024
Within the system, members of the writing team can create content, play back that content in a preview mode, define routes between content modules, and find places for users to enter free text, which our AI system then parses.
—Casey Sackett, IEEE Spectrum, 26 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for playback
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'playback.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near playback
Cite this Entry
“Playback.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/playback. Accessed 28 Jun. 2024.
Copy CitationKids 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)
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