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

Air traffic controllers are tasked with making sure that planes and firefighting rigs share the space safely, using different radio frequencies to communicate with pilots landing the planes and firefighters responding to the scene to help, McCloskey said. —Nicole Comstock, CBS News, 24 Mar. 2026

Meanwhile, for an at-home radio frequency device, Currentbody’s tool helps improve skin laxity by heating the skin to 104 degrees Fahrenheit—the ideal temperature for collagen production, according to experts. —Conçetta Ciarlo, Vogue, 19 Mar. 2026

By Shane Harris On February 28, the day that bombs started falling on the Islamic Republic, a man’s voice began broadcasting in Farsi on a shortwave-radio frequency. —Will Gottsegen, The Atlantic, 9 Mar. 2026

When a radio wave encounters an electron in interstellar space, lower radio frequencies interact more strongly than higher frequencies, causing the lower frequencies to be delayed and arrive at their destination later than higher frequencies. —Keith Cooper, Space.com, 8 Mar. 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