: 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
Matt Levine, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 June 2025
After taking Robinson into custody, authorities played back the phone call that was made for him.
—Jon Haworth, ABC News, 9 June 2025
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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
If the Pacers can pull out a win at home, Game 7 would then be played back in Oklahoma City for the title.
—Matt Levine, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 June 2025
After taking Robinson into custody, authorities played back the phone call that was made for him.
—Jon Haworth, ABC News, 9 June 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 29 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)
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