quality control

American  

noun

1. 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.

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quality control British  

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of quality control

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

Under normal conditions, SEL1L acts as part of the cell's quality control system by identifying damaged or misfolded proteins and marking them for destruction.

From Science Daily • May 21, 2026

AI tools now run alongside traditional human audits to compare results and ensure quality control.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

The agency said it has received preliminary DNA test results on the glove and is still waiting for "quality control and official confirmation" before entering an "unknown male profile" into its database.

From BBC • Feb. 15, 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

Moreover, if this trade-off is not acknowledged, there is a tendency to deny or cover up the inevitable defective items, which makes the job of quality control that much more difficult.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos