: 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
Shubham Yewale, PC Magazine, 30 May 2025
But it is reckoned good for 1,380 hours in standby, 138 hours of making/taking calls or 33 hours of video playback on the 6.95-inch FHD+ (1,080 x 2,460) display that refreshes up to 120 times per second, peaks at 600 nits, and is topped in Corning Gorilla Glass 5.
—Paul Ridden
may 30, New Atlas, 30 May 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for playback
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Noun
With up to 24 hours of battery life and a quick-charge function that gives over an hour of playback from a 10-minute top-up, it’s built to keep the music going all day.
—Shubham Yewale, PC Magazine, 30 May 2025
But it is reckoned good for 1,380 hours in standby, 138 hours of making/taking calls or 33 hours of video playback on the 6.95-inch FHD+ (1,080 x 2,460) display that refreshes up to 120 times per second, peaks at 600 nits, and is topped in Corning Gorilla Glass 5.
—Paul Ridden
may 30, New Atlas, 30 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
See All Example Sentences for playback
Cite this Entry
“Playback.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/playback. Accessed 5 Jun. 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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