What does callback mean?
A callback is a noun describing a renewed point of contact — most often a return telephone call, but also a second-round audition or interview after an initial screening. The word carries a broadly positive connotation: in the performing arts, getting a callback means you impressed someone enough to be asked back, while in customer service it promises continued attention to a query. In modern computing, callback has taken on a precise technical meaning: a function handed to another piece of code so it can be invoked later, usually when an event occurs or a task finishes. This sense underpins much of event-driven programming, where user clicks, timers, and network responses all trigger registered callbacks. The word is formed transparently from the verb phrase "call back," which remains two words when used as a verb. Because it appears everywhere from Hollywood casting rooms to software documentation, callback is a versatile term worth knowing across both everyday and technical English.
nounA request or arrangement for someone to be contacted again, especially by telephone, or an invitation to return for a further interview, audition, or performance. In computing, a function that is passed as an argument to another piece of code and executed at a later point.
- A returned phone call or follow-up contact with someone.
- An invitation to attend a second audition, interview, or evaluation after an initial screening.
- In computing: a function supplied to other code so it can be invoked later, typically in response to an event or completed operation.
"The casting director asked her to come back for a callback next week."
"He left a message asking the accountant for a callback before the end of the day."
"The framework registers a callback that fires whenever new data arrives from the server."
Regular plural; commonly used when discussing multiple auditions, follow-up calls, or registered functions.
"The studio scheduled callbacks for all three finalists on Friday morning."
The same little word runs your phone messages and nearly every interactive program on the web — callbacks are how code knows when to speak up.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of callback
Callback is a compound of the native English verbs "call" and "back," formed by straightforward compounding rather than borrowing. Its ancestor, "call," traces through Middle English to Old Norse "kalla," meaning to cry out or summon. The compound emerged naturally as English speakers needed a noun for the act of calling someone back, first in telephony and later extended by analogy to auditions and, in the late twentieth century, to programming constructs. It shares its root with words such as recall and caller.
How callback is actually used
Widely used and neutral in register. In computing contexts it is a technical staple; in theatre and film it signals progress toward being cast; in everyday speech it usually refers to returning a phone call. The noun form is written as one word; the verbal phrase remains two words ("to call back").
Easily confused with callback
"Callback" is a noun referring to a returned contact or a reusable function reference, while the two-word phrase "call back" is a verb meaning to return someone's phone call.