Meanings
KLOC1
plural KLOCs
- abbreviationcomputingAbbreviation of thousand lines of code.
In IBM there's a religion in software that says you have to count KLOCs, and a KLOC is a thousand line of code.
1996, Steve Ballmer in Triumph of the Nerds II: Riding the Bear (Robert X. Cringely, Paul Sen), about 38 minutes in, relating events around 19892 more examples
The formula is based on thousands of lines of source code (kLOC) and incorporates Fagan's recommendations for inspection pace, meeting duration, and frequency: elapsed time (in days) = 3 × n kLOC Here n is an estimate of how many thousands of lines of code will be inspected.
1991, Glen W. Russell, Experience with Inspection in Ultralarge-Scale Developments (Bell-Northern Research)It concludes that defects are found 2 to 4 times faster with inspection than with testing, that defects are typically found at the rate of one defect per man hour invested in inspection, and that inspection finds about 37 defects per kloc if it is done properly.
1993, Terry Shepard in Proceedings of the National Workshop on Software Engineering Education (IBM Canada)
Kloc2
Origin
Kloc · proper noun
- PolishKloc
- EnglishKloc
Borrowed from Polish Kloc.
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Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
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Cite this entry
KLOC. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/KLOC
“KLOC.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/KLOC. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “KLOC,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/KLOC.
Source: KLOC on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.