a person or thing that evokes memories or imitates something from the past (often used attributively): On their anniversary, she took to social media with a throwback photo from their wedding reception.

Definition of throwback noun in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.

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If you say that something is a throwback to a former time, you mean that it is like something that existed a long time ago.

Jan 18, 2026 · Under the throwback rule, sales into a state where the taxpayer is not taxable are “thrown back” from the destination state to the origin state by adding the nontaxable sales to the numerator in …

A return to an older way of doing something—or an old characteristic that reappears—is a throwback. If you like dressing in bell bottoms and leisure suits, your style is a throwback to the 1970s.

There are six meanings listed in OED's entry for the word throwback, one of which is labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

    It is the acts of barbarity, a throwback from the past; it is the violence that we have lived with for so long.

  1. See atavism. 2. One that has characteristics of an earlier time: a song that is a throwback to the big-band era.
    1. It is the acts of barbarity, a throwback from the past; it is the violence that we have lived with for so long.

    2. See atavism. 2. One that has characteristics of an earlier time: a song that is a throwback to the big-band era.
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