Meaning & use
write-back
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Meanings
nouncountablebusinessfinancespecialist
In accounting, the act of reducing a previous charge or loss by adding money back to the accounts.
Grammar: Countable: 'a write-back', 'the write-back of the provision'. Often used with 'of'.
Patterns
- a write-back of something
- make a write-back
- a tax write-back
The company reported a write-back of $2 million after the tax case was settled.
Analysts expected a small write-back to improve this year's profits.
The write-back reduced the total loss shown in the accounts.
nouncountable or uncountablecomputingtechnical
In computing, the process of saving data back to a storage device or memory after it has been changed.
Grammar: Used in technical descriptions: 'a write-back cache', 'write-back occurs when...'.
Patterns
- write-back cache
- write-back to something
The write-back cache speeds up the disk by storing recent changes in memory.
A write-back to the server happens every five minutes.
Word forms
| plural | write-backs |
|---|
Common combinations
- a write-back of a provision
- The write-back of the provision added $500,000 to the quarterly profit.
- record a write-back
- The accountant recorded a write-back in the general ledger.
- write-back cache
- A write-back cache keeps changed data in fast memory before saving it.
- tax write-back
- The tax write-back lowered the company's effective tax rate.
Synonyms and how they differ
- reversal
- A more general word for changing a previous entry; 'write-back' is the specific accounting term for adding money back.
- rebate
- A rebate is money returned to a customer; a write-back is an internal accounting adjustment, not a payment to a customer.
Opposites
Word family
- write back phrasal verb
- To reply to someone by letter or email.
- write-off noun
- The removal of an asset or debt from the accounts as a loss.
Commonly confused: write-back or write back?
write-back vs write back
The phrasal verb 'write back' means to reply by letter or email, while the noun 'write-back' is an accounting or computing term.
Practice
The finance team recorded a ______ of $1.2 million after the court case ended.
Choose one answer.
The sentence needs a noun after 'a', so the hyphenated noun 'write-back' is correct. 'Write back' is a verb phrase and cannot follow 'a'; 'writing back' and 'wrote back' are verb forms that do not fit the noun position.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “write-back”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.