to regulate, govern, or command; manage:The pilot controlled the plane from the cockpit.
to hold (something) in check; hold (something) back:to control one's emotions.
to prevent the spread of:The firefighters worked to control the forest fire.
n.
the act or power of controlling:[uncountable]Who has control over the newspaper now?
[uncountable] check or restraint: My anger was under control.
[countable] a person who acts as a check; controller.
Mechanical Engineeringcontrols, [plural] an arrangement of devices, such as switches, for regulating or directing the operation of a machine:The controls are easy to understand and within easy reach of the driver.
Idioms
at the controls, in charge of; managing; directing:Is anyone at the controls at headquarters?
con•trol•la•ble,adj.:At this point the problem is still controllable. con•trol•la•bly,adv. con•trol•ling,adj.[before a noun]has a controlling interest in the company.
to exercise restraint or direction over; dominate; command.
to hold in check; curb:to control a horse; to control one's emotions.
to test or verify (a scientific experiment) by a parallel experiment or other standard of comparison.
to eliminate or prevent the flourishing or spread of:to control a forest fire.
[Obs.]to check or regulate (transactions), originally by means of a duplicate register.
n.
the act or power of controlling; regulation; domination or command:Who's in control here?
the situation of being under the regulation, domination, or command of another:The car is out of control.
check or restraint:Her anger is under control.
a legal or official means of regulation or restraint:to institute wage and price controls.
a standard of comparison in scientific experimentation.
a person who acts as a check; controller.
a device for regulating and guiding a machine, as a motor or airplane.
controls, a coordinated arrangement of such devices.
prevention of the flourishing or spread of something undesirable:rodent control.
Sport[Baseball.]the ability of a pitcher to throw the ball into the strike zone consistently:The rookie pitcher has great power but no control.
Stamps[Philately.]any device printed on a postage or revenue stamp to authenticate it as a government issue or to identify it for bookkeeping purposes.
a spiritual agency believed to assist a medium at a séance.
the supervisor to whom an espionage agent reports when in the field.
Anglo-French contreroller to keep a duplicate account or roll, derivative of contrerolle (noun, nominal). See counter-, roll
late Middle English co(u)ntrollen (verb, verbal) 1425–75
con•trol′la•ble, adj., n. con•trol′la•bil′i•ty, con•trol′la•ble•ness, n. con•trol′la•bly, adv. con•trol′less, adj. con•trol′ling•ly, adv.
to check, limit, curb, or regulate; restrain: to control one's emotions, to control a fire
to regulate or operate (a machine)
to verify (a scientific experiment) by conducting a parallel experiment in which the variable being investigated is held constant or is compared with a standard
to regulate (financial affairs)
to examine and verify (financial accounts)
to restrict or regulate the authorized supply of (certain substances, such as drugs)
n
power to direct or determine: under control, out of control
a means of regulation or restraint; curb; check: a frontier control
(often plural) a device or mechanism for operating a car, aircraft, etc
a standard of comparison used in a statistical analysis or scientific experiment
a device that regulates the operation of a machine. A dynamic control is one that incorporates a governor so that it responds to the output of the machine it regulates
(as modifier): control panel, control room
an agency believed to assist the medium in a séance
Also called:control marka letter, or letter and number, printed on a sheet of postage stamps, indicating authenticity, date, and series of issue
one of a number of checkpoints on a car rally, orienteering course, etc, where competitors check in and their time, performance, etc, is recorded
Etymology: 15th Century: from Old French conteroller to regulate, from contrerolle duplicate register, system of checking, from contre-counter- + rollerollconˈtrollableadjconˌtrollaˈbility, conˈtrollablenessnconˈtrollablyadv
'take control of' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):