play back

play back

1. To play something one has recorded, especially to watch or listen carefully or find out how something looks or sounds (rather than to watch or listen recreationally). A noun or pronoun can be used between "play" and "back." They played the interview back during the trial so the jury could hear the defendant's reaction to the question. He played back the video footage of the game to see why his opponent kept getting the advantage on him.
2. To think intensely of some past event. A noun or pronoun can be used between "play" and "back"; usually followed by "in one's mind/head." I kept playing our final bittersweet farewell back in my mind as my plane took off for Europe. If you lie awake at night playing back every negative interaction you had during the day, you're going to end up driving yourself crazy!
See also: back, play
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

play something back (to someone)

to play a recording to someone. Can you play the speech back to me? Please play back the speech to me, so I can hear how I sound.
See also: back, play
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

play back

Replay, especially a recorded performance; also, repeat. For example, When we played back the tape of the concert we noticed a lot of missed notes, or He uses the same material again and again, playing back his old speech. [Early 1900s]
See also: back, play
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

play back

v.
1. To replay something that has been recorded: After recording the interview, the reporter played back the tape to find a quotation for the article. The instructors videotaped the performance and played it back for the class in slow motion.
2. To withdraw or lower the emphasis of something: You should play back the budget questions in your presentation and concentrate on hiring decisions. The coach played the defense back for a while and concentrated on scoring goals.
See also: back, play
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • add in
  • all right
  • (I) wouldn't (do something) if I were you
  • a fast talker
  • (one) never would have guessed
  • a/the feel of (something)
  • a horse of another
  • a horse of another color
  • a horse of another colour
  • a straw will show which way the wind blows
References in periodicals archive
Still, the ability to copy and play back a significantly larger chunk of your video library on the go thanks to a free app makes VLC a must-download if you own an iPad.
VLC for iPad sets your video free
The user can then either play back the messages in sequence or as a "to do" list.
Pocket coach. (new products)
The HDD would have recorded all the fresh, incoming material, unattended, and it could play back everything it had stored while simultaneously recording what was still being broadcast.
Hard Drives Meet Hard Bodies--'Baywatch' Style
The government has accused Microsoft of sabotaging Apple's QuickTime because Windows can not play back Apple's .mov file format.
ENGSTROM DECRIES APPLE'S COMPLAINT AS NON-ISSUE
We have our second baseman play back on the grass and our shortstop two or three steps in off the grass, based on arm strength and the speed of the runner.
No-frill infield defense
The Mako and Mako Plus 32 cards record and play back 16-bit sound or music at up to 44.` KHz sample rate.
Shark sound cards
As long as scientists don't play back data at either end of the tape, O'Neil says, the craft can carry on its mission as planned.
Balky tape recorder plagues Galileo
Walsall own's DJ Burkie will also play back to back with Stephen Giles.
Night Life: Bassline is in Walsall
Both capture, play back and transmit two-way audio over an IP network and feature a quarter-inch, 340,000-effective-pixel CCD for high quality image capture combined with powerful low light capabilities.
Network cameras: Canon
They are triggered into life and play back the tapes whenever people walk up close to them, giving information and personal memories of the town's industrial heritage.
New posts a talking point
There's a maximum playback speed of 32x (for viewers with really fast eyes) and it can play back in slo-mo, too (for the scanningly challenged).
Evergreen EG-DVDP2000C
The device, including Toshiba's ultra-thin smart media memory card, and an adapter will enable the Gameboy console to play back the titles of TV animation programs and movie trailers on its monitor, it said.
Toshiba arm to offer gadgets to turn Gameboy into video player
MMC is the smallest storage medium in the world - a single CD-ROM can play back up to 12 hours of music, or around 200 tracks.
Weekend Motors: Ford offers digital radio
An operator can drag and drop cameras into the display screen and play back individual cameras with just a mouse click.
DVR control software. (Marketplace)