bandwidth

noun

band·​width ˈband-ˌwidth 

-ˌwitth

1

: a range within a band of wavelengths, frequencies, or energies

especially : a range of radio frequencies which is occupied by a modulated carrier wave, which is assigned to a service, or over which a device can operate

2

: the capacity for data transfer of an electronic communications system

Graphics consume more bandwidth than text does.

especially : the maximum data transfer rate of such a system

a bandwidth of 100 megabits per second

3

: the emotional or mental capacity necessary to do or consider something

I don't have the bandwidth to do it all myself, and I feel like a failure because I'm not living up to my own ideals.

—Frances Lefkowitz

Examples of bandwidth in a Sentence

The modem has a bandwidth of 56 kilobits per second.

Graphics use more bandwidth than text does.

Recent Examples on the Web

Taking on something this scary freed up a lot of emotional bandwidth. — Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 26 Sep. 2026

This allows for roughly 83GBps of bandwidth shared between the CPU cores and the IGP. — Michael Justin Allen Sexton, PC Magazine, 26 Sep. 2026

High-density optical infrastructure and expandable pathways can provide flexibility as bandwidth, fiber counts and connectivity requirements increase. — Ankit Agarwal, Forbes.com, 24 Sep. 2026

Realistically, there aren’t a ton of things on a Mac that can use all that bandwidth, especially since Apple doesn’t support external GPUs. — ArsTechnica, 21 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1913, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

bandwidth

noun

band·​width ˈband-ˌwidth 

1

: a range of frequencies

2

: the capacity for or rate of data transfer

a high bandwidth Internet connection