bit rate

noun

variants or less commonly bit-rate or bitrate
: a measure of the speed of data processing usually calculated as the number of bits per second
MP3 measures compression settings in terms of a file's bit rate—the average number of bits required for one second of sound.Jim Heid

Examples of bit rate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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The Relay’s sonic performance is boosted by customizable parameters, which include selectable high/low gain, six filter modes and variable bit rates up to 32-bit / 768kHz. Mark Sparrow, Forbes.com, 14 July 2025 These are bit rates for the app; the web player sticks you with 128 Kbps and 256 Kbps, respectively. Matt Jancer, Wired News, 15 May 2023 The inability to change the export bit rate meant that my render speed performance testing of Lightworks wasn’t an entirely fair comparison with the other programs. PC Magazine, 25 Apr. 2025 The unpaid level reduces the video bit rate but maintains 2K resolution at a 30fps capture rate (1080p and 720p are also available if your bandwidth is limited). PC Magazine, 26 Mar. 2025 Granta’s anti-jamming approach switches to a lower bit rate. David Hambling, Forbes, 18 Mar. 2025 The team goes on to calculate similar bit rates for extreme examples of human information processing. Michael Irving, New Atlas, 18 Dec. 2024 The new standard reduced its predecessors bit rate—for the same video quality—by at least half. Thomas Wiegand, IEEE Spectrum, 25 Aug. 2011 Bluetooth codec support is limited to just SBC, which offers the lowest bit rate and sound quality. Andrew Liszewski, The Verge, 15 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1968, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of bit rate was in 1968

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Cite this Entry

“Bit rate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bit%20rate. Accessed 25 Jul. 2025.

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