: 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
Anisha Sircar, Forbes.com, 16 July 2025
About nine hours later, with the spacecraft heading away from Mars, the on-board tape recorder, which had stored the data from the primitive camera, initiated playback and transmitted the raw images to Earth.
—Rod Pyle, Space.com, 14 July 2025
Jon Arnold, New York Times, 15 June 2025
Spanning genres and subject matters, the album plays back to front as a raunchy, raucous ride through Firstman’s unique comedy lens.
—Stephen Daw, Billboard, 10 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for playback
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Noun
That data is then used to generate a custom hearing profile, stored in the iOS Health app, which automatically adjusts audio playback across calls, music, and other media.
—Anisha Sircar, Forbes.com, 16 July 2025
About nine hours later, with the spacecraft heading away from Mars, the on-board tape recorder, which had stored the data from the primitive camera, initiated playback and transmitted the raw images to Earth.
—Rod Pyle, Space.com, 14 July 2025
Verb
As Peter Gonzalez took possession from a throw-in, a fan in the stands tossed the ball that had gone out of play back on the field.
—Jon Arnold, New York Times, 15 June 2025
Spanning genres and subject matters, the album plays back to front as a raunchy, raucous ride through Firstman’s unique comedy lens.
—Stephen Daw, Billboard, 10 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for playback
Cite this Entry
“Playback.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/playback. Accessed 22 Jul. 2025.
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)
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share