How to Use playback in a Sentence

playback

1 of 2 noun
  • The band listened to a playback of their first recording.
  • Many videos run for hours, designed for overnight playback.
    — Samantha Agate, Miami Herald, 30 Mar. 2026
  • Get up to 30hours of playback time on a quick two-hour recharge.
    — Tim Chan, Billboard, 22 Apr. 2021
  • Coogan and Hays never watch playback of their own show.
    — Julia Black, Vanity Fair, 8 Jan. 2026
  • Swipe up and down the stem to adjust playback volume.
    — PC Magazine, 15 Sep. 2025
  • Each earbud has a touch pad that can control calls and sound playback.
    — Jim Rossman, Dallas News, 1 Oct. 2020
  • Do a quick five-minute charge to get another three hours of playback.
    — Christine Persaud, USA TODAY, 3 Mar. 2021
  • Netflix allows users to change the playback speed of its videos.
    — Judy Berman, Time, 26 Mar. 2026
  • Tap that button, and the video will resume playback on the big screen.
    — Chris Smith, BGR, 4 Dec. 2021
  • Watch a playback of coverage in the above.
    — The Hill, 21 Aug. 2025
  • Still though great for music playback that doesn’t need to shake your nightstand.
    — Jacob Krol, CNN Underscored, 30 Mar. 2021
  • One thing’s for sure—those cameras don’t lie, and neither does the playback.
    — Shelby Stewart, Essence, 18 May 2025
  • The mobile playback screen looks largely the same.
    — Jordan Minor, PC Magazine, 1 June 2026
  • Press the bottom once to control playback, as well as to answer or end calls.
    — PCMAG, 14 June 2024
  • But during playback, the scene didn’t work for Chu or Brooks.
    — Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 26 Nov. 2025
  • Ad playback on those players could also be a factor.
    — Eric Vilas-Boas, Vulture, 10 Apr. 2026
  • Battery life is rated for up to 39 hours of video playback.
    — Eric Zeman, PC Magazine, 9 Sep. 2025
  • Battery life is long at 40 hours but that’s just with music playback.
    — Michael Andronico, CNN Underscored, 12 Mar. 2021
  • Adult dogs, however, didn’t respond in the same way to the playbacks.
    — Sarah Larimer, The Denver Post, 12 Jan. 2017
  • Tribit says that’s good enough for 24 hours of music playback.
    — Brad Moon, Forbes, 8 Apr. 2021
  • All the songs have been shot live and the sound of the original takes has been used, without playback.
    — John Hopewell, Variety, 17 Sep. 2021
  • The case can deliver a 15-minute fast charge that gives four hours of playback time.
    — Brad Moon, Forbes, 16 Aug. 2022
  • Battery life stands at eight hours of straight playback or 32 hours counting case recharges.
    — Chris Welch, The Verge, 31 Aug. 2023
  • Apple promises up to 39 hours of video playback.
    — Chloe Albanesius, PC Magazine, 9 Sep. 2025
  • So buy these for the stellar music playback, not to wear on conference calls with the boss.
    — Jim Rossman, Dallas News, 24 June 2021
  • It was just meant to be a playback, just talking intimately.
    — Noah Reardon, Billboard, 18 Aug. 2025
  • The battery life is impressive, too, with up to 35 hours of playback time.
    — Isabelle Kagan, USA TODAY, 2 July 2020
  • Even a 30-second charge is enough for three hours of music, a two-hour call, or an hour of video playback.
    — Alexei Oreskovic, Fortune, 3 Mar. 2023
  • With just 10 minutes of charging, two hours of playback time is restored.
    — PC Magazine, 2 Dec. 2025
  • Huawei promises four hours of playback in a single charge or 20 hours when used with the charging case.
    — Popular Mechanics Editors, Popular Mechanics, 10 Sep. 2019

play back

2 of 2 verb
  • One of my favorite games to play back in the day was roulette.
    — Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Dec. 2025
  • Anyone who saw the Hornets play back then knows that’s not true.
    — Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 3 Apr. 2026
  • He was flagged for pass interference on his first play back in the game.
    — Fox News, 15 Oct. 2023
  • Half the movie plays back in reverse, an amazing budget hack.
    — Rachel Handler, Vulture, 15 Mar. 2024
  • One top hack, Hunter says, is to play back any keywords mentioned in the job ad.
    — Mark C. Perna, Forbes, 21 Sep. 2021
  • The switch in sites means the Bills will play back-to-back games in Detroit.
    — John Wawrow, BostonGlobe.com, 17 Nov. 2022
  • The head referee called the play back and led Mauer to one sideline.
    — Tris Wykes, Twin Cities, 21 Oct. 2025
  • What has surprised you most watching the show play back on TV?
    — Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 5 Nov. 2025
  • Some teams like to play back-to-back games on the opposite coast and spend a practice week on the road.
    — Josh Dubow, ajc, 13 May 2021
  • The Wave don’t play back-to-back road games again until July.
    — Ryan Finley, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Jan. 2026
  • They would be played back to back with no spectators and limited media.
    — Gerald Marzorati, The New Yorker, 13 Jan. 2024
  • That information is then shown or played back to the user, who can choose whether or not to answer.
    — Theo Burman, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Sep. 2025
  • Maybe equally because players aren’t in top condition to play back-to-back games.
    — Dave Hyde, sun-sentinel.com, 5 Aug. 2020
  • An audio recorder captures the sounds in the nest, which the zoo will play back to the eggs in the incubator.
    — Emily Anthes, New York Times, 16 May 2023
  • The user would repeat this process to record a sequence of events that the Unimate could play back.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 30 Aug. 2022
  • Death had an important role to play back when life was single-celled and simple, Halioua told me.
    — Ross Andersen, The Atlantic, 2 May 2026
  • Pouncey, one of the top safeties in the country, leads the way and Sutton plays back there with him at the strong safety spot.
    — Chris Hays, The Orlando Sentinel, 19 Aug. 2025
  • The reel also looks to the future, as new looks at its upcoming Phase 4 play back-to-back.
    — Ale Russian, PEOPLE.com, 3 May 2021
  • Long even notched a tackle that limited Tank Bigsby to no gain on his first play back.
    — C. Isaiah Smalls Ii, Miami Herald, 7 Mar. 2025
  • The Rangers need someone who can help limit the damage in their own zone, retrieve pucks and push play back up the ice.
    — Shayna Goldman, The Athletic, 19 Dec. 2024
  • If the music is going to be played back on speakers, at least two are needed, but the more speakers, the better the sound field.
    — Qi “peter” Li, IEEE Spectrum, 10 Sep. 2022
  • But both of them started playing back to the crowd, swatting the crowd away and antagonizing them.
    — EW.com, 6 Nov. 2023
  • But with restrictions on whether Davis can play back-to-backs, that’s obviously harder to do.
    — Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times, 17 Mar. 2023
  • Probst says the action on the screen — along with those two mystery contestants playing back-to-back — will speak for itself.
    — Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 18 Sep. 2025
  • The Seahawks are the 20th team in the past three seasons to play back-to-back road games with the second coming on a short week.
    — CBS News, 2 Jan. 2026
  • For older hoops fan like me, their style is actually a throwback to how the game was played back in the 1980s.
    — Cedric Golden, Austin American Statesman, 20 Jan. 2026
  • On a routine check of cameras to replace the batteries and SD cards, researchers played back some of the footage.
    — Elizabeth Gamillo, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 Aug. 2024
  • The team will play back in Atlanta on June 27 against DR Congo.
    — Irene Wright, USA Today, 26 May 2026
  • Abu Dhabi is a track that should play back toward Norris’ strengths, just when the pressure grows greater than ever for the finale.
    — Luke Smith, New York Times, 3 Dec. 2025
  • In fact, if anything, Lete is even more pissed off now after watching the excursion play back on TV.
    — Dalton Ross, EW.com, 26 Mar. 2025

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

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