Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about it:
A ferrite bead or ferrite choke is a passive electric component that suppresses high frequency noise in electronic circuits. It is a specific type of electronic choke. Ferrite beads employ high frequency current dissipation in a ferrite ceramic to build high frequency noise suppression devices. Ferrite beads may also be called blocks, cores, rings, EMI filters, or chokes.
See this answer at SuperUser for a slightly more readable answer. 🙂