regression testing

noun

Testing a program after a modification to ensure that areas that should not be affected by the update behave as they did in previous versions.

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Meanings

nounregression testing (uncountable)
  1. uncountablecomputingTesting a program after a modification to ensure that areas that should not be affected by the update behave as they did in previous versions.

    Regression testing can account for as much as one-half of the cost of software maintenance.

    2004, Mark Last, Abraham Kandel, Horst Bunke, Artificial Intelligence Methods in Software Testing, →ISBN, page 52
    2 more examples

    During manual test execution, a newly introduced defect to previously working functionality might not be found until hours into the regression testing cycle.

    1999, Elfriede Dustin, Jeff Rashka, John Paul, Automated Software Testing, →ISBN

    Without regression testing, unseen bugs will accumulate, until suddenly nothing works in what was once thought to be a stable system.

    2000, Robert V. Binder, Testing Object-oriented Systems: Models, Patterns, and Tools, →ISBN, page 32
Cite this entry
APA

regression testing. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/regression%20testing

MLA

“regression testing.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/regression%20testing. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “regression testing,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/regression%20testing.

Source: regression testing on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.