kilohertz

noun

ki·​lo·​hertz ˈki-lə-ˌhərts 

ˈkē-lə-, 

-ˌherts 

plural kilohertz

: 1000 hertz

Did you know?

If your favorite AM radio station has a frequency of 680 kilohertz (kHz), that means the station's transmitter is oscillating (vibrating) at a rate of 680,000 cycles per second (i.e., 680,000 times a second). A related term is megahertz (MHz), meaning "millions of cycles per second". Shortwave radio operates between 5.9 and 26.1 MHz, and the FM radio band operates between 88 and 108 MHz. Garage-door openers work at about 40 MHz, baby monitors work at 49 MHz, and so on. The terms hertz, kilohertz and megahertz honor the great German physicist Heinrich Hertz, the first person to broadcast and receive radio waves.

Examples of kilohertz in a Sentence

a frequency of 80 kilohertz

Recent Examples on the Web

The device keeps its light extremely stable, with frequency variation below 30 kilohertz, while rapidly changing its frequency over 900 megahertz as many as 1 million times per second. — Muskan Bhatia, Interesting Engineering, 30 Oct. 2026

On one hand, digital systems continuously collect and process data, with modern industrial equipment generating telemetry at very high rates—up to 100 kilohertz. — Kostiantyn Gitko, Forbes.com, 21 May 2026

Frequency plots show the center frequency sweeping from roughly 300 hertz to 2 kilohertz. — IEEE Spectrum, 25 Feb. 2026

The researchers monitored audio between zero and two hundred kilohertz. — Rivka Galchen, New Yorker, 12 Feb. 2026

Word History

Etymology

International Scientific Vocabulary

First Known Use

1929, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

kilohertz

noun

ki·​lo·​hertz ˈkil-ə-ˌhərts 

ˈkē-lə-, 

-ˌhe(ə)rts

: 1000 hertz

Medical Definition

kilohertz

noun

ki·​lo·​hertz ˈkil-ə-ˌhərts  ˈkē-lə- 

-ˌhe(ə)rts

: 1000 hertz