MB

5 synonyms for MB, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.

Abbreviation — Megabyte: a unit of digital storage equal to one million bytes, or 1,048,576 bytes when counted in binary. Used for file sizes, memory and data allowances.

Synonyms

Everyday swaps

Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.

sorry

Rare, literary or technical

Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.

megabyte megabit my bad my fault

Synonyms by Meaning

1. abbreviation

Megabyte: a unit of digital storage equal to one million bytes, or 1,048,576 bytes when counted in binary. Used for file sizes, memory and data allowances.

“The photo is about 4 MB, so it should attach fine.”

megabyte

2. abbreviation

Megabit, when written with a lower-case b as Mb. One megabit is one eighth of a megabyte and is used mainly for connection speeds.

“The line syncs at 80 Mb per second.”

megabit

3. abbreviation slang

My bad: a short written apology admitting a small mistake.

“Sent it to the wrong thread, mb.”

my bad sorry my fault

How to use MB

The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.

MB of storage file size in MB MB per second

The storage sense is neutral and technical; the "my bad" sense is slang and belongs only in casual messages.

Etymology

An initialism of megabyte, from the prefix mega- (Greek megas 'great') plus byte.

Full origin of MB →

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between MB and Mb?

Capital B means bytes and lower-case b means bits, and there are eight bits in a byte. So 100 Mb per second of broadband delivers roughly 12.5 MB of files per second.

How many MB are in a GB?

1,024 MB in a gigabyte when counted in binary, or 1,000 MB under the decimal system that storage manufacturers and network operators use. That difference is why a drive sold as 500 GB shows up as slightly less on your computer.

What does mb mean in a text message?

In casual messaging, lower-case "mb" is usually short for "my bad", a quick way of admitting a small mistake. Context makes it clear, since nobody apologises in megabytes.

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sorry my bad megabit megabyte

Nearby words

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