bandwidth

[band-width, -with]

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.

bandwidth

/ 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

bandwidth

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.

bandwidth

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

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.)

Word History and Origins

Origin of bandwidth¹

First recorded in 1925–30; band ² + width

Example Sentences

"I don't think from day one that the US government has had the appropriate bandwidth to deal with all the requests to meet and to negotiate with the whole range of countries," she adds.

From BBC

The modern era of TV robots are more complex, with the foundational notion that they will be cloud-connected, accessing the same internet bandwidth as humans, and AI-driven.

From Los Angeles Times

As they put it, "What is the bandwidth when you have Israel, Iran, welfare, and the economy to deal with? There is no lightness in politics."

From BBC

Even “finfluencers” who are technically subject to Federal Trade Commission and SEC guidelines, Baker said, often simply don’t follow them and benefit from regulatory bodies lacking the bandwidth to rectify that.

From Los Angeles Times

“People don’t have the bandwidth to respond with the kind of outrage that they would when you saw the beatings at Pan Pacific Park,” said Abdullah, referring to the LAPD’s response to protests in 2020.

From Los Angeles Times