callback

American

[kawl-bak] / ˈkɔlˌbæk /

Or call-back

noun

an act of calling back.
a summoning of workers back to work after a layoff.
a summoning of an employee back to work after working hours, as for emergency business.
a request to a performer who has auditioned for a role, booking, or the like to return for another audition.
recall.
a return telephone call.
an allusion to a joke made earlier in the same comedy act or show.

The kitten yelling “Quiet!” at the end was a callback to earlier in the episode when the two normally silent brothers shouted it.

adjective

of or relating to a return telephone call.

Please leave a callback number.

verb phrase

to telephone (a person) who has called earlier.

Our staff will call you back within 24 hours.
to summon or bring back; recall.

He called back the messenger.
The actor was called back for a second audition.
to revoke; retract.

to call back an accusation.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

callbacks

plural

Etymology

Origin of callback

First recorded in 1925–30; noun use of verb phrase call back

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

callback callbacks

By the time Wright and I spoke last week, he still hadn’t gotten a callback.

From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026

There’s a great train-track crossing sequence that’s also a vicious callback to Richard Dreyfuss’ epiphany in “Close Encounters.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026

My knee was aching, likely a callback to surgery at 16 to repair torn ligaments.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026

Several family members were killed, but Hind managed to answer a callback from the helpers at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.

From BBC ● Jan. 20, 2026

“Oh, that’s weird,” Libby says, “because Jordan Rylance posted something on Facebook that he has a callback for Elliott tomorrow, and the whole world Liked it. As if he already got the part or whatever.”

From "Better Nate Than Ever" by Tim Federle

Director Craig Gillespie is no stranger to turbulent filmmaking, and his “Cruella” commendably made an underserved villain into a fully sketched character, without overrelying on callbacks.

From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2026

Self-tape auditions are solicited, with callbacks held via Zoom.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 11, 2026

Gyllenhaal’s love for other variations of this story is right up there onscreen with brash callbacks to Mel Brooks’ 1974 “Young Frankenstein” and the underrated “Frankenhooker.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 4, 2026

The report’s conclusion relies on the average speed of answer, which includes callbacks so that callers are not actively waiting on the phone.

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 23, 2025

Volpe and Krause select ten students for callbacks the next day.

From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023