SINCE 1828
gigahertz
noun
giga·hertz
| \ ˈji-gə-ˌhərts
, -ˌherts, ˈgi-
\
, -ˌherts, ˈgi-
\
plural gigahertz
Definition of gigahertz
: a unit of frequency equal to one billion hertz
Examples of gigahertz in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Processing speed for CPUs is measured in gigahertz. — Peter Martin, Popular Mechanics, "The Very Best Laptops of 2018," 15 Nov. 2018 The Bluetooth’s wavelength, around 2.44 gigahertz, is really crowded especially in the city. — Alexander George, Popular Mechanics, "Why Your Bluetooth Headphones Don’t Work Right," 5 Dec. 2017 All 377 lightning discharges recorded in Juno’s first eight flybys struck in the Earth-like megahertz and gigahertz range. — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, "Jupiter’s Lightning Is More Earth-Like Than We Thought," 8 June 2018 In contrast, lightning on Earth can produce gigahertz radio waves, which are millions of times higher in frequency. — Charles Q. Choi, Scientific American, "Surprise! Jupiter’s Lightning Looks a Lot Like Earth’s," 7 June 2018 But at the frequency used in standard air-traffic radar — about 3 gigahertz — the system can pick up objects as small as 1 inch across, according to Christopher Peters, a Drexel University professor of electrical and computer engineering. — Tom Avril, Philly.com, "How experts found pieces of the Southwest jet from 65 miles away," 19 Apr. 2018 The radio waves that come from these towers are in the megahertz-to- low-gigahertz range and vary according to which bits of spectrum a carrier has licensed from the FCC. — Christopher Mims, WSJ, "5G Wireless Will Redraw the Wireless Industry Map: Who Stands to Lose?," 25 Mar. 2018 Radar at frequencies higher than the 3 gigahertz used by air-traffic controllers can detect objects even smaller than 1 inch across, provided they are made of a reflective material such as metal. — Tom Avril, Philly.com, "How experts found pieces of the Southwest jet from 65 miles away," 19 Apr. 2018 For its part, China has been encouraging development of 5G and has identified some airwave bands like 3.5 gigahertz for use as a possible global spectrum. — Scott Moritz, Bloomberg.com, "Trump's China Concern Adds Pressure in Race to Be First With 5G," 2 Apr. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gigahertz.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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