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 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

Even after traveling through 120 kilometers of standard optical fiber, the system kept average quantum bit error rates below 11%.

From Science Daily • May 9, 2026

Corning GLW -3.82%decrease; red down pointing triangle posted a higher first-quarter profit, fueled by surging demand for its optical fiber products used in artificial intelligence data centers and continued growth in its new solar business.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 28, 2026

In January, Corning notched a $6 billion deal to supply Meta Platforms with cabling, optical fiber, and connectivity solutions for data centers.

From Barron's • Apr. 16, 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