callback

American  

[kawl-bak] / ˈkɔlˌbæk /

Or call-back

noun

• callbacks
  plural

1. an act of calling back.

2. a summoning of workers back to work after a layoff.

3. a summoning of an employee back to work after working hours, as for emergency business.

4. a request to a performer who has auditioned for a role, booking, or the like to return for another audition.

5. recall.

6. a return telephone call.

7. 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.

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adjective

1. of or relating to a return telephone call.

   Please leave a callback number.

verb phrase

1. to telephone (a person) who has called earlier.

   Our staff will call you back within 24 hours.

2. to summon or bring back; recall.

   He called back the messenger.

   The actor was called back for a second audition.

3. 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

See Examples For:

callback callbacks

It’s a callback to a mauve guest room in her childhood home with its unusual color that she always found peaceful.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

"So they gave me a callback and much to my surprise I got the part."

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

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

From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026

“Jordan! I heard from my friend that you got a callback, too. It’s, like, the big news on Facebook.”

From "Better Nate Than Ever" by Tim Federle

“There’s been so many callbacks to nostalgic franchises,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2026

Spoon-feeding this critical bit of dialogue early in the film allows Barker to heap as much violence, trauma and tropes onto Nikki’s character as possible, under the guise of thematic callbacks.

From Salon ● Jun. 4, 2026

After a few callbacks, things started to feel possible for Campbell and Robertson.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2026

A total of 90% of the calls are now resolved by self-service options or callbacks.

From MarketWatch ● Jan. 20, 2026

June convinced me to sign up after the callbacks list was posted.

From "P.S. I Miss You" by Jen Petro-Roy