noun
- Electronics.
- the process of returning part of the output of a circuit, system, or device to the input, either to oppose the input (negative feedback) or to aid the input (positive feedback).
- acoustic feedback.
- the furnishing of data concerning the operation or output of a machine to an automatic control device or to the machine itself, so that subsequent or ongoing operations of the machine can be altered or corrected.
- a reaction or response to a particular process or activity: He got very little feedback from his speech.
- evaluative information derived from such a reaction or response: to study the feedback from an audience survey.
- Psychology. knowledge of the results of any behavior, considered as influencing or modifying further performance.Compare biofeedback.
- Biology. a self-regulatory biological system, as in the synthesis of some hormones, in which the output or response affects the input, either positively or negatively.
noun
-
- the return of part of the output of an electronic circuit, device, or mechanical system to its input, so modifying its characteristics. In negative feedback a rise in output energy reduces the input energy; in positive feedback an increase in output energy reinforces the input energy
- that part of the output signal fed back into the input
- the return of part of the sound output by a loudspeaker to the microphone or pick-up so that a high-pitched whistle is produced
- the whistling noise so produced
-
- the effect of the product of a biological pathway on the rate of an earlier step in that pathway
- the substance or reaction causing such an effect, such as the release of a hormone in a biochemical pathway
- information in response to an inquiry, experiment, etcthere was little feedback from our questionnaire
verb, adverb feed back
- (tr) to return (part of the output of a system) to its input
- to offer or suggest (information, ideas, etc) in reaction to an inquiry, experiment, etc
1920, in the electronics sense, from feed + back (adj.). Transferred use, “information about the results of a process” is attested by 1955.
n.
- The return of a portion of the output of a process or system to the input, especially when used to maintain performance or to control a system or process.
- The portion of the output so returned.
- The return of information about the result of a process or activity.
- The supply of an input to some process or system as a function of its output. See more at negative feedback positive feedback.
A process in which a system regulates itself by monitoring its own output. That is, it “feeds back” part of its output to itself. Feedback is used to control machines; a heating system, for example, uses a thermostat to monitor and adjust its output. Feedback is also used by the human brain to control various muscles and joints.