bandwidth

Noun

bandwidth (countable and uncountable, plural bandwidths)

1. The width, usually measured in hertz, of a frequency band.
   • But now is a good time to be bargaining for bandwidth, as the switch from analogue to digital television is freeing up space.2010 October 30, Jim Giles, “Jammed!”, in New Scientist
2. The width of the smallest frequency band within which the signal can fit.
3. (informal) The rate of data flow in digital networks typically measured in bits per second; the bitrate.
   • While comm buoys allow rapid transmission, there is a finite amount of bandwidth available. Given that trillions of people may be trying to pass a message through a given buoy at any one time, access to the network is parceled out on priority tiers.2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Communications: Administration Codex entry
4. (informal) The capacity, energy or time required.
   • I think it's a worthy project, but I just don't have the bandwidth right now.
   • Yet... rather than exploiting opportunities to their fullest, Perry uses with conviction the word "frustrated" to describe a typical approach to government with ideas: "You'll get the response 'we don't have the bandwidth to deal with that'."2024 January 24, Dyan Perry talks to Nick Brodrick, “The industry has given me so much”, in RAIL, number 1001, page 44
5. The minimum, over all orderings of vertices of a given graph, of the length of the longest edge.