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

Los Alamos architect Galen Shipman said engineers concentrated on improving memory bandwidth for each CPU core while strengthening support for irregular computing workloads. — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 17 July 2026

These are people who are usually limited by factors like time, bandwidth and execution drag. — Vitalii Dodonov, Forbes.com, 17 July 2026

Demand for high-bandwidth memory chips continues to outstrip supply as cloud providers race to build AI infrastructure, allowing leading memory makers such as SK Hynix and Micron to maintain strong pricing power. — Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 16 July 2026

The model weights are frozen and effectively read-only, which means flash’s poor write bandwidth is no longer an obstacle. — IEEE Spectrum, 14 July 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