: 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
Mark Sparrow, Forbes.com, 25 Apr. 2025
There are also buttons for Bluetooth connectivity and power, toggling the speaker's LED lighting on and off, bass boost control, and playback controls.
—PC Magazine, 23 Apr. 2025
Todd Spangler, Variety, 16 Apr. 2025
They have been used in guidance systems, surgical processes and to play back movies or music from a disc.
—Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 7 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for playback
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Noun
Features and Tech Specs: Native playback of high-res PCM music up to 32-bit, 768kHz and DSD512.
—Mark Sparrow, Forbes.com, 25 Apr. 2025
There are also buttons for Bluetooth connectivity and power, toggling the speaker's LED lighting on and off, bass boost control, and playback controls.
—PC Magazine, 23 Apr. 2025
Verb
In the Spotify app for both mobile and desktop, the search function was not working and attempts to play back music and podcasts were unsuccessful.
—Todd Spangler, Variety, 16 Apr. 2025
They have been used in guidance systems, surgical processes and to play back movies or music from a disc.
—Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 7 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 30 Apr. 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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