callback

American  

[kawl-bak] / ˈkɔlˌbæk /

Or call-back

noun

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.

Etymology

Origin of callback

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

Example Sentences

Even the wrap is a callback to a pre-public-offering Sweetgreen, which offered wraps when it was a small chain in the Washington, D.C., area.

From Barron's • Feb. 24, 2026

A small, almost comical callback to the smoothie that started it all.

From Salon • Feb. 15, 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

I have yet to receive a callback, so for now, I am more than happy to continue my work at the L.A.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 23, 2025

“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