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

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has threatened to revoke EchoStar licenses for radio frequency bands coveted by rival firms including SpaceX, which alleges that EchoStar is underutilizing the spectrum. —ArsTechnica, 13 May 2025

What space does have are energetic phenomena that create wave-like behavior, vibrations in gas clouds, and radio frequency emissions from stars and black holes. —Harshal Shah, Forbes.com, 13 May 2025

Laser communications, with vastly higher transmission rates compared with those of radio frequencies, can significantly increase the volume of data returned to Earth during each ground pass. —IEEE Spectrum, 12 May 2025

The agency said there were popping sounds on an unspecified number of radio frequencies. —Bill Hutchinson, ABC News, 11 May 2025

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