optical fiber

American  

noun

1. a very thin, flexible glass or plastic strand along which large quantities of information can be transmitted in the form of light pulses: used in telecommunications, medicine, and other fields.

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optical fiber Scientific  

1. A flexible transparent fiber of extremely pure glass or plastic, generally between 10 and 200 micrometers in diameter, used especially to carry light signals for telecommunication purposes.

2. See more at fiber optics

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Etymology

Origin of optical fiber

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

The tracker continuously follows the Sun throughout the day and directs sunlight into a 20 m plastic multimode optical fiber.

From Science Daily • May 18, 2026

The researchers successfully transmitted the quantum signals across an optical fiber link spanning more than 120 kilometers between the encoder and decoder.

From Science Daily • May 9, 2026

Corning posted higher first-quarter profit and core results, driven by surging demand for optical fiber in AI data centers and solar business growth.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 28, 2026

The company signed a multiyear agreement to supply Meta with up to $6 billion of optical fiber for its U.S. data-center expansion.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 28, 2026

One day, however, your telephone, TV, fax machine and personal computer will be replaced by a single ``information processor'' linked to the worldwide Net by strands of optical fiber.

From Big Dummy's Guide to the Internet by Electronic Frontier Foundation