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

Examples of radio frequency in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Their capabilities include jamming pods that can intercept, process and jam enemy radio frequency signals; electronic countermeasure technology to prevent jamming by others; advanced radar; and air-to-air missiles. —Sally Krutzig, Idaho Statesman, 19 May 2026

Radar, the tech firm using radio frequency identification and artificial intelligence to track and locate store inventory, has raised $170 million in series B funding, led by Gideon Strategic Partners and Nimble Partners with participation from Align Ventures. —David Moin, Footwear News, 19 May 2026

With over 10,200 active Starlink satellites already in orbit and the European Space Agency projecting around 100,000 satellites by the end of the next decade, the radio frequencies used to beam data down to Earth are starting to buckle under the load. —Margherita Bassi, Interesting Engineering, 19 May 2026

Those include radio frequency data and satellite imaging that uses radar signals, rather than light, according to Hans Tino Hansen, chief executive of Risk Intelligence, a maritime risk firm. —Adina Renner, New York Times, 15 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1915, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for radio frequency

• multifrequency
• infrequency

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