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Technical Vocabularynoun · /helθ tʃek/

health check

In simple English

A health check is a fundamental concept in modern software development and DevOps. It is a lightweight, automated test that a monitoring system or load balancer runs periodically to confirm that a service is alive and functioning properly. Health checks can be as simple as an HTTP request to a specific endpoint that returns a success status code, or more complex, checking database connectivity, cache availability, or critical business logic. In microservices architectures, health checks are essential because systems need to know immediately if a service has crashed, become unresponsive, or is degraded. When a health check fails, automated systems can trigger actions like restarting the service, removing it from the load balancer pool, or alerting the engineering team. This is why health checks are discussed frequently in standup meetings, deployment planning, and incident response. The term is also used as a verb in tech teams: 'Let us health check this service before we deploy.' This usage is common and accepted in professional tech environments worldwide.

Understand what a health check is in software systems and how it is used in monitoring and deployments.

At a glanceCEFR B2
Commonness4/5
Versatility4/5
FormalityCasualFormalNeutral
Spoken ↔ WrittenSpokenWrittenBoth
Directness ↔ DiplomaticDirectDiplomaticDirect
RegionUS and UK
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Say it like this

✓Let me run a quick health check on the service.
✓The health check is failing — we need to investigate.
✓We added a new health check endpoint to improve monitoring.
✓Health checks showed the database was down.
✓The load balancer removed the instance because its health check failed.

Real examples

in a standup

"Our deployment went smoothly — all health checks passed and the service is responding normally."

in a code review

"I added a health check endpoint that verifies our Redis connection is working before returning success."

in a Slack message

"The payment service health check has been failing for the last 10 minutes. Can someone check what is happening?"

in a team meeting

"We should implement health checks for all microservices so we can detect failures automatically."

Don't say this

Handle with care. Often confused with 'health check endpoint' (a specific API endpoint). Do not use to mean personal wellness checks or general system diagnostics outside of software context.

✕I health check the server every day.
✓I run a health check on the server every day.— Health check is typically used as a noun. When used as a verb, say 'run a health check' rather than 'health check' alone.
✕The health check is a person who checks the system.
✓The health check is an automated process that verifies the system is working.— A health check is a process or test, not a person or role.
✕We did a health check on the employee.
✓We performed a health check on the API endpoint.— Health check in tech refers to system checks, not personal wellness. Avoid using it for people in professional tech settings.

Other forms

noun

health check

"The health check revealed that the database connection was slow."

verb (phrasal)

run a health check

"We need to run a health check before deploying to production."

Often used with

run a health checkMost common verb phrase; means to execute or perform a health check
health check passes/failsDescribes the result or status of a health check
health check endpointA specific API endpoint that provides health check information
periodic health checkA health check that runs automatically at regular intervals
health check intervalThe time period between consecutive health checks
failed health checkWhen a health check detects a problem or unavailability

Similar words

health check endpointMore specific; refers to the actual API endpoint rather than the check itself
liveness probeKubernetes-specific term; checks if a container is still running
readiness probeKubernetes-specific term; checks if a service is ready to accept traffic
pingMore general and informal; a simple request to test if something is alive
status checkMore general term; can refer to any verification of system status

Opposites

service outagesystem failurehealth check failure

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Practice

Try it

4 quick exercises

Pick the most natural phrasing

1. Your team is preparing to deploy. How do you naturally say you will verify the service is working?

Complete the sentence

2. The load balancer removes any instance whose _______ fails from the active pool.

Spot the mistake

3. Which sentence uses 'health check' incorrectly?

Rewrite naturally

4. Rewrite this using 'health check' naturally: 'We need to test if the service is working before we send requests to it.'

Questions

Quick poll

Have you said "health check" in a standup this week?

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