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

After that's locked and loaded, gently closing the door starts the mechanism and the disc spins, the player starts auto reading and then playback begins. —New Atlas, 6 Mar. 2026

Although both the iPad Pro and the iPad Air are rated to last for 10 hours of web browsing or video playback on Wi-Fi and 9 hours of browsing over 5G, our testing shows a bit of differentiation. —Andrew Gebhart, PC Magazine, 5 Mar. 2026

Verb

Embiid won't play Sunday in Boston, then will be evaluated again after the 76ers play back-to-back home games Tuesday and Wednesday. —CBS News, 28 Feb. 2026

Kerr noted that the team will have several back-to-backs in March, three to be exact, and Al Horford and Porzingis already do not play back-to-backs. —Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 25 Feb. 2026

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)