kilohertz

noun

ki·​lo·​hertz ˈki-lə-ˌhərts How to pronounce kilohertz (audio)
ˈkē-lə-,
-ˌherts How to pronounce kilohertz (audio)
plural kilohertz
: 1000 hertz

Did you know?

If your favorite AM radio station has a frequency of 680 kilohertz (kHz), that means the station's transmitter is oscillating (vibrating) at a rate of 680,000 cycles per second (i.e., 680,000 times a second). A related term is megahertz (MHz), meaning "millions of cycles per second". Shortwave radio operates between 5.9 and 26.1 MHz, and the FM radio band operates between 88 and 108 MHz. Garage-door openers work at about 40 MHz, baby monitors work at 49 MHz, and so on. The terms hertz, kilohertz and megahertz honor the great German physicist Heinrich Hertz, the first person to broadcast and receive radio waves.

Examples of kilohertz in a Sentence

a frequency of 80 kilohertz
Recent Examples on the Web The buzzing appeared as a strong signal at 1.33 kilohertz (kHz) via the fiber optic sensing. Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 30 Nov. 2023 This leads to unwanted noise in the entire AM band, especially in the lower portion (between 500 to 700 kilohertz), that comes across as a hum or a whine. IEEE Spectrum, 28 June 2023 Human ears are geared to pick up sounds with frequencies of up to about 16 kilohertz, but the sounds that plants produce are up in the 40-80 kilohertz range. Jackie Appel, Popular Mechanics, 30 Mar. 2023 These rotors, which are as small as 0.7 millimeters in diameter—about the size of a pencil lead, with a hole in the middle for the sample—have a maximum spin speed of about 111 kilohertz, or 7 million rotations per minute. IEEE Spectrum, 8 June 2023 Organic electrochemical transistors, made for biodegradable applications, are milimeters in size and switch at kilohertz rates. IEEE Spectrum, 29 Apr. 2023 Achieving this luminosity would require the colliding beams to have an average power of 20 megawatts each—1010 particles per bunch at a repetition rate of 10 kilohertz and a beam size at the collision point of tens of a billionth of a meter. Chandrashekhar Joshi, Scientific American, 1 July 2021 The result: The microphone picked up sounds at frequencies between 40 and 80 kilohertz — far above what the human ear can detect. Kyle Melnick, Washington Post, 4 Apr. 2023 Despite Dallesasse’s best efforts, the rewired box emitted a slight hum at about 30 kilohertz that wasn’t present in the original. IEEE Spectrum, 30 Nov. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'kilohertz.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

International Scientific Vocabulary

First Known Use

1929, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of kilohertz was in 1929

Dictionary Entries Near kilohertz

Cite this Entry

“Kilohertz.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kilohertz. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

kilohertz

noun
ki·​lo·​hertz ˈkil-ə-ˌhərts How to pronounce kilohertz (audio)
ˈkē-lə-,
-ˌhe(ə)rts
: 1000 hertz

Medical Definition

kilohertz

noun
ki·​lo·​hertz ˈkil-ə-ˌhərts How to pronounce kilohertz (audio) ˈkē-lə- How to pronounce kilohertz (audio)
-ˌhe(ə)rts
: 1000 hertz

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