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signal-to-noise ratio

British  

noun

  1. the ratio of one parameter, such as power of a wanted signal to the same parameter of the noise at a specified point in an electronic circuit, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

This increased the signal-to-noise ratio by as much as 100-fold, making it possible to detect proteins that were previously undetectable.

From Science Daily • Mar. 25, 2026

“The filtering capacities of the lateral line system of the tail could improve the signal-to-noise ratio, avoiding overstimulation of the canal neuromasts.”

From Salon • Feb. 10, 2025

The signal-to-noise ratio plummets even more, by a factor of nearly 300.

From Science Magazine • Feb. 22, 2023

“They’re not going to give us that unless we’ve shown that this is exactly where to look, this is the signal-to-noise ratio we expect, and so on.”

From New York Times • Sep. 15, 2022

Often used derogatorily, for example: "the signal-to-noise ratio in this newsgroup is pretty low."

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

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