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radio frequency
noun
: any of the electromagnetic wave frequencies that lie in the range extending from below 3 kilohertz to about 300 gigahertz and that include the frequencies used for communications signals (as for radio and television broadcasting and cell-phone and satellite transmissions) or radar signals
![radio frequency table](https://merriam-webster.com/assets/mw/static/table/collegiate/radiofre.jpg)
Examples of radio frequency in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California sent the transmission 158 million miles from Earth to Venus—Elliott’s favorite planet—at the speed of light, with the radio frequency signal taking roughly 14 minutes to reach its destination.
—
Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 16 July 2024
They were recorded communicating on a different radio frequency with regional air traffic controllers near Boston.
—
Gregory Wallace, CNN, 28 June 2024
Providing this timely, accurate, and essential information was possible only because journalists possessed radios that could scan open and transparent NYPD and other emergency services radio frequencies.
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David Donovan, New York Daily News, 22 May 2024
Others have the ability to detect radio frequency emissions; observe vehicle movements and nuclear cooling plumes; and operate at night, in cloudy weather, or through dense vegetation and camouflage.
—
Amy Zegart, Foreign Affairs, 20 Dec. 2022
See all Example Sentences for radio frequency ![](/dist-cross-dungarees/2024-07-26--16-18-58-h04dq/images/svg/redesign/arrow-right-exemplar.svg)
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'radio frequency.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1915, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near radio frequency
Cite this Entry
“Radio frequency.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/radio%20frequency. Accessed 26 Jul. 2024.
Kids Definition
radio frequency
noun
: any of the electromagnetic wave frequencies between about 3 kilohertz and 300 gigahertz that are used especially in radio and television transmission and in radar
Medical Definition
radio frequency
noun
: any of the electromagnetic wave frequencies that lie in a range extending from below 3 kilohertz to about 300 gigahertz and that include the frequencies used for communications signals (as for radio and television broadcasting and cell-phone transmissions) or radar signals
—often hyphenated when used before another noun
radio-frequency waves
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