the reversion to an ancestral or earlier type or character; atavism.
4.
an example of this.
Origin
1855-60;1915-20for def 3; noun use of verb phrase throw back
Examples from the web for throwback
No one could agree whether they were a distinct species, a throwback, or pathological individuals of our own species.
In some ways, self-paced online courses are a throwback to the days when learning at a distance meant corresponding by mail.
He is in many ways a throwback to the golden age of the gentleman explorer, one of the last of that peripatetic breed.
Slow-cookers are the perfect throwback gadgets for the busy modern chef.
The packaging itself truly tugs at those nostalgic heartstrings with its unique throwback design.
High-school cafeteria soup has more flavor than this bland, tepid throwback.
Meanwhile, inflation is reviving throwback elements of state economic planning.
To understand why this should be so, it helps first of all to give up on the idea of home schooling as a throwback.
It's also a throwback to the era when a company's headquarters made a statement.
There are a lot of small fish in the region and often the throwback ratio is high, but the fishing is fun.
British Dictionary definitions for throwback
throwback
/ˈθrəʊˌbæk/
noun
1.
a person, animal, or plant that has the characteristics of an earlier or more primitive type
a reversion to such an organism
verb (adverb)
2.
(intransitive) to revert to an earlier or more primitive type
3.
(transitive) foll by on. to force to depend (on): the crisis threw her back on her faith in God
Word Origin and History for throwback
n.
"reversion to an ancestral type or character," 1888, from throw (v.) + back (adv.); earlier it meant "a reverse in a course or progress, a relapse" (1856).
Slang definitions & phrases for throwback
throwback
noun
A retro thing, person, etc; a reversion to a technique or method of an earlier period: That guy tries so hard to be a throwback to the 60s(1888+)