benchmarking

American

[bench-mahr-king] / ˈbɛntʃˌmɑr kɪŋ /

noun

the act or practice of measuring something against a standard, or of testing it in order to develop such a standard.

The system measures nursing outcomes on a numerical scale, facilitating the benchmarking of nursing practices across facilities and jurisdictions.

Etymology

Origin of benchmarking

First recorded in 1965–70; benchmark ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Amazon’s flagship Nova model has lagged behind others in capability, according to independent benchmarking firms.

From The Wall Street Journal

This year’s benchmarking process reduced total job growth in 2025 to 181,000 from a previously reported 584,000.

From Barron's

In 2021, Laifen began positioning its brand as a “Dyson pingti,” Ye said, using a strategy of performance benchmarking plus price advantage to break into the market.

From Barron's

Adding to the pressure is Rigetti’s recent exclusion from Stage B of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, a federal program designed to verify whether quantum-computing technologies can reach “utility scale,” or produce computational value exceeding their costs, by 2033.

From MarketWatch

So once a year, the BLS adjusts for this by benchmarking its estimates against a near-complete count of employment based on state unemployment insurance records.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023