rewind

1 of 2

verb

re·​wind (ˌ)rē-ˈwīnd How to pronounce rewind (audio)
rewound (ˌ)rē-ˈwau̇nd How to pronounce rewind (audio) ; rewinding

transitive verb

: to wind again
especially : to reverse the winding of
rewind film

rewind

2 of 2

noun

re·​wind ˈrē-ˌwīnd How to pronounce rewind (audio)
(ˌ)rē-ˈwīnd
1
: something that rewinds or is rewound
2
: an act of rewinding
3
: a function of an electronic device that reverses a recording to a previous portion

Examples of rewind in a Sentence

Verb Rewind the tape so that we can hear that song again.
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
When astronomers catch a glimpse of an unusual signal in the sky, perhaps the light from a star exploding, Stevance takes that signal and rewinds the clock on it by billions of years. Sophia Chen, Ars Technica, 13 Feb. 2023 Some data labelers would rewind such clips and play them in slow motion. Reuters, NBC News, 6 Apr. 2023 Recall allows players to essentially rewind time for a specific object. Gene Park, Washington Post, 26 Apr. 2023 But now people can rewind things and everybody is talking to each other in real time. Nick Romano, EW.com, 7 Sep. 2022 On the 13th, Venus in Sagittarius makes a sextile to Saturn in Aquarius echoing these sentiments, and on the 16th Mercury Rx in Libra sextiles Venus in Sag asking us to take that and rewind it back, possibly find some beats that make our booties go (clap). Gala Mukomolova, refinery29.com, 11 Oct. 2021 The Live Reunion will be able to rewind, pause or jump to Live anytime during the broadcast. Dave Quinn, Peoplemag, 4 Apr. 2023 Viewers will be able to rewind, pause and jump to live. Emily Longeretta, Variety, 4 Apr. 2023 Currently expanding at about 2.4 million mph, the researchers were able to rewind the cosmic clock to confirm that, yes, the source would have exploded in the 12th century. Jamie Carter, Forbes, 21 Jan. 2023
Noun
Football rewind Santa Margarita had quite a rally, coming back from 21-0 and 29-8, to defeat Bishop Amat. Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 11 Sep. 2023 Toh says the change is a continuation of the design updates introduced in October, which included a more precise way to fast forward or rewind. Jay Peters, The Verge, 22 Aug. 2023 Midway through, the video pauses and rewinds to reveal through special effects that all of the incredible action was actually the women's national team. Victoria Hernandez, USA TODAY, 23 July 2023 There’s also a historical rewind midway to consider parallels between many groups today and the Ku Klux Klan, itself founded by Civil War veterans, and which held extraordinary sway over the South for nearly a century. Dennis Harvey, Variety, 10 June 2023 Caring for a toddler can be like using a VHS tape: Wake up, eat, play, sleep; rewind, repeat. Samantha Laine Perfas, The Christian Science Monitor, 26 July 2023 On-screen text reveals the players weren’t the men’s team—the video rewinds to show all that footage was actually from women’s games. Jenny McCoy, SELF, 18 July 2023 Phoenix Suns' 2023 NBA Draft rewind:Toumani Camara picked, no trades after speculation Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Jeremy Cluff, The Arizona Republic, 23 June 2023 The first, at the bottom of the player is the Video Controls region containing buttons such as play, pause, rewind, full screen, and more. Byscience News Staff, science.org, 22 June 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rewind.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Verb

1717, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1926, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of rewind was in 1717

Dictionary Entries Near rewind

Cite this Entry

“Rewind.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rewind. Accessed 24 Sep. 2023.

Kids Definition

rewind

1 of 2 verb
re·​wind rē-ˈwīnd How to pronounce rewind (audio)
rewound -ˈwau̇nd How to pronounce rewind (audio) ; rewinding
: to wind again
especially : to reverse the winding of (as a video tape)

rewind

2 of 2 noun
re·​wind ˈrē-ˌwīnd How to pronounce rewind (audio)
: a function of an electronic device that reverses a recording to a previous portion

More from Merriam-Webster on rewind

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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