control

[kuhn-trohl]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR control ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), con·trolled, con·trol·ling.

to exercise restraint or direction over; dominate; command: The car is difficult to control at high speeds. That zone is controlled by enemy troops.

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.

Obsolete. to check or regulate (transactions), originally by means of a duplicate register.

noun

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.

Statistics. control variable(def 1).

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.

Baseball. the ability of a pitcher to throw the ball into the strike zone consistently: The rookie pitcher has great power but no control.

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.

Verb Phrases

control for, Statistics. to account for (variables in an analysis) by limiting the data under consideration to a comparison of like things: to control for demographic factors.

Origin of control

1425–75; late Middle English co(u)ntrollen (v.) < Anglo-French contreroller to keep a duplicate account or roll, derivative of contrerolle (noun). See counter-, roll

Related formscon·trol·la·ble, adjective, nouncon·trol·la·bil·i·ty, con·trol·la·ble·ness, nouncon·trol·la·bly, adverbcon·trol·less, adjectivecon·trol·ling·ly, adverbnon·con·trol·la·ble, adjectivenon·con·trol·la·bly, adverbnon·con·trolled, adjectivenon·con·trol·ling, adjectiveo·ver·con·trol, verb (used with object), o·ver·con·trolled, o·ver·con·trol·ling, nounpre·con·trol, noun, verb (used with object), pre·con·trolled, pre·con·trol·ling.qua·si-con·trolled, adjectivequa·si-con·trol·ling, adjectivesub·con·trol, verb (used with object), sub·con·trolled, sub·con·trol·ling.su·per·con·trol, nounun·con·trolled, adjectiveun·con·trol·ling, adjectivewell-con·trolled, adjective

Synonyms for control

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR control ON THESAURUS.COM

1. manage, govern, rule. 2. restrain, bridle, constrain. 6. management, government, reign, rule, mastery.

Synonym study

6. See authority.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for control

discipline, restriction, management, force, government, restraint, jurisdiction, domination, rule, regulation, curb, supervision, oversight, authority, dominate, handle, lead, oversee, supervise, manage

Examples from the Web for control

Contemporary Examples of control

He seemed by all appearances perfectly happy to let the Republicans control the state senate.
Mario Cuomo: An OK Governor, but a Far Better Person
Michael Tomasky
January 2, 2015
So not only will the GOP have control in the Senate, it will move the center of gravity on Capitol Hill hard to starboard.
The Democrats’ Black Hole—and What They Can Do About It
Michael Tomasky
December 31, 2014
Law has been rebuilt in the last 50 years to be an instrument of control, not a framework for human responsibility.
Red Tape Is Strangling Good Samaritans
Philip K. Howard
December 27, 2014
Aside from a blanket ban, social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit are nearly impossible to control.
China’s Internet Is Freer Than You Think
Brendon Hong
December 27, 2014
In the not too distant future, these young people will control billions of dollars.
When Will We See a #Millennial Congress?
Linda Killian
December 26, 2014

Historical Examples of control

A deal with the Rothschilds for control of the Spanish mines had fallen through.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
The danger of the control of an ignorant electorate has therefore passed.
United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches
Various
The control of matter in putting it off and on at will, as He in His death and resurrection.
The Conquest of Fear
Basil King
A society that had escaped from fear would escape from their control.
The Conquest of Fear
Basil King
To hear her thus named moved him to a rage almost beyond his control.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana

British Dictionary definitions for control

control

verb -trols, -trolling or -trolled (tr)

to command, direct, or ruleto control a country

to check, limit, curb, or regulate; restrainto 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)

noun

power to direct or determineunder control; out of control

a means of regulation or restraint; curb; checka 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

spiritualism an agency believed to assist the medium in a séance

Also called: control mark a 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

Derived Formscontrollable, adjectivecontrollability or controllableness, nouncontrollably, adverb

Word Origin for control

C15: from Old French conteroller to regulate, from contrerolle duplicate register, system of checking, from contre- counter- + rolle roll

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for control

early 14c., "to check, verify, regulate," from Anglo-French contreroller "exert authority," from Medieval Latin contrarotulus "a counter, register," from Latin contra- "against" (see contra) + rotulus, diminutive of rota "wheel" (see roll (n.)). From a medieval method of checking accounts by a duplicate register. Sense of "dominate, direct" is mid-15c. Related: Controlled; controlling.

Control group in scientific experiments is attested from 1952 (from a sense of control attested since 1875).

1580s, from control (v.). Control freak is late 1960s slang.

control in Medicine

control

[kən-trōl′]

v.

To verify or regulate a scientific experiment by conducting a parallel experiment or by comparing with another standard.

To hold in restraint; check.

n.

A standard of comparison for checking or verifying the results of an experiment.

An individual or group used as a standard of comparison in a control experiment.

control in Science

control

[kən-trōl′]

A standard of comparison for checking or verifying the results of an experiment. In an experiment to test the effectiveness of a new drug, for example, one group of subjects (the control group) receives an inactive substance or placebo , while a comparison group receives the drug being tested.

Idioms and Phrases with control

control

see out of control; spin control.