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

The fundraising comes as analysts remain bullish on the outlook for AI memory chips, arguing that supply constraints in high-bandwidth memory are likely to persist for years as hyperscalers continue ramping up AI infrastructure spending. — Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 25 June 2026

The bottleneck has moved beyond raw compute to memory bandwidth, power per token, and the cost of moving data across a rack. — Steve McDowell, Forbes.com, 25 June 2026

In these remote locales, the other main viable broadband alternative typically comes from satellite services like Starlink—which are, compared to FWA, more expensive, with higher delays, and lower bandwidth. — Shivendra Panwar, IEEE Spectrum, 24 June 2026

This increase is intended to support larger simulations and models without staging or swapping, both of which can introduce latency and lower effective bandwidth. — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 23 June 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