Meaning & use
MB
Last updated
Meanings
abbreviation
Megabyte; a unit of digital storage equal to about one million bytes.
Grammar: Used after a number: 5 MB. Capital M and B; a small b means bit.
Patterns
- X MB
- MB of data
This photo is about 2 MB in size.
The file is too large to email; it's over 25 MB.
You get 5 GB of data, which is 5000 MB.
abbreviationBritish
Bachelor of Medicine; a medical degree from some universities.
Grammar: Written after a person's name: Jane Smith, MB.
Patterns
- MB (degree)
- MB, BS
She earned her MB from the University of Edinburgh.
Dr. Jones, MB, is a respected physician.
abbreviationCanadian
Manitoba; a province in Canada, used in addresses.
Grammar: Written after the city and before the postal code: Winnipeg, MB.
Patterns
- City, MB
Send the package to 123 Main St, Winnipeg, MB R3C 1A1.
She was born in Brandon, MB.
Common combinations
- MB of data
- I used 500 MB of data watching videos.
- MB file size
- The MB file size is too large for the attachment.
- MB degree
- He holds an MB degree from a British university.
Synonyms and how they differ
- megabyte
- The full word; MB is the abbreviation used in writing and speech.
Commonly confused: MB or Mb? MB or GB?
MB vs Mb
Mb (small b) stands for megabit, which is one eighth of a megabyte. MB (capital B) is megabyte.
MB vs GB
GB stands for gigabyte, which is 1000 MB. Do not confuse the two.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'MB' correctly to mean megabyte?
Choose one answer.
Option 0 correctly uses MB for megabyte to describe file size. Option 1 is wrong because internet speed is measured in megabits per second (Mb/s), not megabytes. Option 2 is wrong because MB as a degree stands for Bachelor of Medicine, not a computer science degree. Option 3 is false because Mb (megabit) is smaller than MB (megabyte).
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “MB”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.