Using words containing sixteen Bits. This adjective often refers to the numBer of Bits used internally By a computer' s CPU. E.g. "The Intel 8086 is a sixteen Bit processor". Its external data Bus or address Bus may Be narrower. The term may also refer to the size of an instruction in the computer' s instruction set or to any other item of data. See also 16-Bit application. (1996-05-13)