quality control

American

noun

a system for verifying and maintaining a desired level of quality in an existing product or service by careful planning, use of proper equipment, continued inspection, and corrective action as required.

quality control British

noun

control of the relative quality of a manufactured product, usually by statistical sampling techniques

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of quality control

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

quality control

This allows for dose customization but isn’t subject to the same reviews for safety, efficacy or consistency, and may carry added risks related to quality control, potency variation or contamination.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026

The organization had preserved these cans over many years for quality control but eventually no longer needed them.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 1, 2026

Every once in a while, workers dressed in white with hats and masks inspect the process, alongside artificial-intelligence technology used for quality control.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 24, 2026

After the Alaska Airlines incident, Boeing fortified its quality control and manufacturing operations under close scrutiny by the US Federal Aviation Administration.

From Barron's ● Jan. 14, 2026

Today, for instance, I’ve decided to focus on quality control.

From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023