Meaning & use
QC
Last updated
Meanings
abbreviationcountableBritishlegal
Short for Queen's Counsel, a senior barrister in England, Wales and some other countries who has been given a special rank.
Grammar: Written after the name: Jane Smith QC; a QC is a person.
Patterns
- someone QC
- become a QC
The case was argued by a leading QC.
She was made a QC after twenty years at the bar.
The defendant hired a well-known QC to represent him.
abbreviationuncountablebusiness
Short for quality control, the checking of products or services to make sure they meet a required standard.
Grammar: Used without an article: the factory has strict QC.
Patterns
- QC check
- QC department
Every batch goes through QC before it leaves the factory.
The QC team rejected the faulty parts.
She works in QC at a pharmaceutical company.
Common combinations
- senior QC
- A senior QC led the defence team.
- take silk as a QC
- He took silk as a QC at forty.
- QC check
- Each item passes a QC check.
- QC department
- The QC department found a labelling error.
- QC inspector
- A QC inspector signs off every shipment.
Synonyms and how they differ
- silk
- Silk is an informal British name for a QC, and it sounds more insider than the formal abbreviation.
- quality assurance
- Quality assurance covers the whole process of preventing defects, whereas QC concentrates on testing the finished product.
- inspection
- Inspection is a general word for checking something, while QC names a formal system in a business.
Word family
Commonly confused: QC or QA?
QC vs QA
QA means quality assurance, the planning of processes to avoid errors, while QC is the checking of results.
Practice
Before the shipment leaves, every item goes through ___ to make sure it meets our standards.
Choose one answer.
QC is quality control, checking finished products. QA is a related but broader process, and KC is a legal title.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “QC”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.