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 projector includes a dedicated 24 FPS mode to match the frame rate of most films, and also supports Active 3D playback for users interested in three-dimensional content. —Matt Emma, USA Today, 23 Dec. 2025

These are now commonly built into a range of speakers and playback devices, allowing lossless tracks—and even hi-res music—to be streamed directly from the company's servers to a compatible device over Wi-Fi. —Simon Lucas, Wired News, 21 Dec. 2025

Verb

The 49ers will be the 15th team in the past three seasons to play back-to-back short weeks, with the previous 14 splitting the games. —CBS News, 2 Jan. 2026

One of my favorite games to play back in the day was roulette. —Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Dec. 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)