bandwidth

American  

[band-width, -with] / ˈbændˌwɪdθ, -ˌwɪθ /

noun

1. Telecommunications. the smallest range of frequencies constituting a band within which a particular signal can be transmitted without distortion.

2. Digital Technology. the transmission capacity of an electronic communications device or system; the speed of data transfer.

   a high-bandwidth internet connection.

3. mental capacity; intelligence.

   Don't listen to him—he has really low bandwidth.

4. a person's capacity to handle or think about more than one thing at the same time.

   He doesn't have the bandwidth to make those kinds of decisions.

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bandwidth British  

/ ˈbændˌwɪdθ /

noun

1. the range of frequencies within a given waveband used for a particular transmission

2. the range of frequencies over which a receiver or amplifier should not differ by more than a specified amount

3. the range of frequencies used in a specific telecommunications signal

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bandwidth Scientific  

/ bănd′wĭdth′,-wĭth′ /

1. The numerical difference between the upper and lower frequencies of a band of electromagnetic radiation, especially an assigned range of radio frequencies.

2. The amount of data that can be passed along a communications channel in a given period of time. For analog devices, such as standard telephones, bandwith is the range of frequencies that can be transmitted and is expressed in hertz (cycles per second). For digital devices, bandwidth is measured in bits per second. The wider the bandwidth, the faster data can be sent.

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bandwidth Cultural  

1. The amount of data that can be carried by a digital communication medium, often expressed in hertz.

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Discover More

Within the radio and microwave portions of the electromagnetic spectrum limited bandwidth is available, and in the United States the use of the spectrum is regulated and allocated by the FCC. (See VHF and UHF.)

Etymology

Origin of bandwidth

First recorded in 1925–30; band ² + width

Explanation

Bandwidth tells us how much data can flow through an internet connection at one time, and it also describes how much mental energy a person has to handle different tasks. Think of bandwidth as a pipe: the bigger it is, the more it can handle flowing through it. In technology, bandwidth is a measurement that determines things like how fast you can stream a movie or download a file. On a personal level, bandwidth also refers to your mental ability to handle tasks and deal with stress. Just as a network might get overwhelmed and slow down if there’s too much data to handle, our minds can also feel overloaded when too much is going on.

Example Sentences

Bandwidth: You’re not a router, just say you’re busy, pal!

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026

"There's been a surge of demand for memory chips, driven above all by the high-end High Bandwidth Memory that AI requires," he said.

From BBC • Jan. 1, 2026

Bandwidth refers to the amount of data that can be carried at a point in time by the carrier.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 15, 2022

Bandwidth that would’ve otherwise been spent pushing pictures of you through the Internet can instead be devoted to your outgoing audio.

From Washington Post • Jan. 28, 2022

Bandwidth is a finite resource, our demand for its use is only increasing, and much of the spectrum has already been apportioned.

From Slate • May 29, 2019