beta test

¹ American  

noun

1. Psychology. a set of mental tests designed to measure the general intelligence of individuals unable to read and write adequately or at all, used by the U.S. Army in World War I.

2. Computers. a quality-control technique in which hardware or software is subjected to trial in the environment for which it was designed, usually after debugging by the manufacturer and immediately prior to marketing.

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beta-test ² American  

[bey-tuh-test] / ˈbeɪ təˌtɛst /

verb (used with object)

1. Computers. to subject (software or hardware) to a beta test.

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beta-test British  

noun

1. a test of a new or modified piece of computer software by customers who volunteer to do so

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verb

1. to test (software) in this way Compare alpha-test

Example Sentences

But when he downloaded a beta test version of a game called "MetaToy" that turned out to be fake, it installed malware on his browser.

From Barron's • Mar. 13, 2026

And the Washington Post took heat for errors in its AI-powered personalized podcast, which was launched in a beta test in December; the company has said new products go through research, prototyping and development.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 4, 2026

And let's be blunt - as the public beta test nears its end, there are a lot of people online who are frankly furious with many of these changes.

From BBC • Nov. 1, 2025

GitHub’s AI assistant is also a kind of beta test for a host of other Copilots that Microsoft is baking into Office, Windows, Bing and other business lines.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 22, 2024

The first public release was version 2.1 in 1982; all versions before 2.1 were considered in beta test.

From Zen and the Art of the Internet by Kehoe, Brendan P.