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control

American  

[kuhn-trohl] / kənˈtroʊl /

verb (used with object)

• controls,
  present (3rd person singular)
• controlled,
  past participle,  past
• controlling
  present participle

1. to exercise restraint or direction over; dominate: command.

   The car is difficult to control at high speeds.

   That zone is controlled by enemy troops.

   Synonyms:

   rule, govern, manage

2. to hold in check; curb.

   to control a horse;

   to control one's emotions.

   Synonyms:

   constrain, bridle, restrain

3. to test or verify (a scientific experiment) by a parallel experiment or other standard of comparison.

4. to eliminate or prevent the flourishing or spread of.

   to control a forest fire.

5. Biology. (of an organism) to initiate an internal response to external stimuli.

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

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noun

• controls
  plural

1. the act or power of controlling; regulation; domination or command.

   Who's in control here?

   Synonyms:

   mastery, rule, reign, dominion

2. the situation of being under the regulation, domination, or command of another.

   The car is out of control.

3. check or restraint.

   Her anger is under control.

4. a legal or official means of regulation or restraint.

   to institute wage and price controls.

5. Statistics. control variable.

6. a person who acts as a check; controller.

7. a device for regulating and guiding a machine, as a motor or airplane.

8. controls, a coordinated arrangement of such devices.

9. prevention of the flourishing or spread of something undesirable.

   rodent control.

10. Biology. an organism’s ability to initiate an internal response to external stimuli (distinguished from regulation).

11. Baseball. the ability of a pitcher to throw the ball into the strike zone consistently.

    The rookie pitcher has great power but no control.

12. Philately. any device printed on a postage or revenue stamp to authenticate it as a government issue or to identify it for bookkeeping purposes.

13. a spiritual agency believed to assist a medium at a séance.

14. the supervisor to whom an espionage agent reports when in the field.

verb phrase

1. control for to account for (variables in an analysis) by limiting the data under consideration to a comparison of like things.

   to control for demographic factors.

control British  

/ kənˈtrəʊl /

verb

1. to command, direct, or rule

   to control a country

2. to check, limit, curb, or regulate; restrain

   to control one's emotions

   to control a fire

3. to regulate or operate (a machine)

4. 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

5. 1. to regulate (financial affairs)

   2. to examine and verify (financial accounts)

6. to restrict or regulate the authorized supply of (certain substances, such as drugs)

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noun

1. power to direct or determine

   under control

   out of control

2. a means of regulation or restraint; curb; check

   a frontier control

3. (often plural) a device or mechanism for operating a car, aircraft, etc

4. a standard of comparison used in a statistical analysis or scientific experiment

5. 1. 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

   2. ( as modifier )

      control panel

      control room

6. spiritualism an agency believed to assist the medium in a séance

7. Also called: control mark.  a letter, or letter and number, printed on a sheet of postage stamps, indicating authenticity, date, and series of issue

8. one of a number of checkpoints on a car rally, orienteering course, etc, where competitors check in and their time, performance, etc, is recorded

control Scientific  

/ kən-trōl′ /

1. 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.

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control Idioms  

1. see out of control; spin control.

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Usage

What does control mean? To control is to dominate or command something or someone, as in Tomas showed excellent control of his hand several weeks after his surgery. As a noun, control can refer to the act of controlling, as in I can’t stand it—my parents have total control over my life!To control is also to restrain or keep in check, as in Toddlers are not known for control over their emotions. Control can also refer to keeping something in check. When you keep your emotions under control, you still feel them but you don’t let them overwhelm you. To control can also mean to eliminate the spread of something, such as with a fire or an illness. In statistics, to control for means to compare only like data to reduce the number of variables in the comparison. Example: Who has control of the lights for tonight’s show?

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• controllability
  noun
• controllableness
  noun
• precontrol
  noun
• supercontrol
  noun
• overcontrol
  verb (used with object)
• subcontrol
  verb (used with object)
• controllable
  adjective
• controlless
  adjective
• noncontrollable
  adjective
• noncontrolled
  adjective
• noncontrolling
  adjective
• quasi-controlled
  adjective
• quasi-controlling
  adjective
• uncontrolled
  adjective
• uncontrolling
  adjective
• well-controlled
  adjective
• controllably
  adverb
• controllingly
  adverb
• noncontrollably
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• controls
  plural

Participles

• controlling
  present
• controlled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• control
  simple
• controls
  simple
• have controlled
  perfect
• has controlled
  perfect
• am controlling
  progressive
• are controlling
  progressive
• is controlling
  progressive
• have been controlling
  perfect progressive
• has been controlling
  perfect progressive

Past

• controlled
  simple
• had controlled
  perfect
• was controlling
  progressive
• were controlling
  progressive
• had been controlling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will control
  simple
• will have controlled
  perfect
• will be controlling
  progressive
• will have been controlling
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of control

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English co(u)ntrollen (verb), from Anglo-French contreroller “to keep a duplicate account or roll,” derivative of contrerolle (noun); see counter-, roll

Explanation

To have control is to have the power to run something in an orderly way. A skillful teacher maintains control over students who might otherwise waste time or be disruptive. A control can also be a device used to operate a machine, like the remote control for a television. The control in an experiment is the group that gets left alone so scientists can compare "before and after" changes in other groups. The verb control means "to be in charge." If you're a group's treasurer, you control its finances. It can also mean "hold back." You might need to control your hyperactive puppy when the mail carrier comes around.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

control controls controlled controlling

Their absence left the remaining control tower personnel understaffed while managing more than twice the airport’s usual traffic volume.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

A lightning strike on air traffic control systems at Luton Airport has affected flight landings and schedules.

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026

Yet meaningful, comprehensive control of AI both on the battlefield and off has languished, largely because trust between governments and understanding of the technology and its risks is lacking, Russell said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026

"We expect proper screen time management. We expect proper parental control on these platforms," he said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026

The dash resembles something from a retro sci-fi movie, a spaceship’s control panels or Doc Brown’s modified DeLorean.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Türk said Meta's proposed changes, which include time limits and parental supervision controls, aligned with what he had been calling for - "but we're not there yet".

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026

Not because of the investigations into allegations that insurance companies under Walter’s umbrella failed to properly disclose and conduct transactions between other companies he controls.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026

Hugging Face gained attention earlier this summer when OpenAI models breached controls and were able to compromise the company’s systems.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026

“Every agent needs a trusted identity and clear controls over what it can access and do,” McKinnon said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

“She controls the Doors of Death now. She’ll be very cross with us.”

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

This contrasts with closed-source AI, which is designed to be controlled and private.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026

The analysis used data from DIETFITS, a randomized controlled trial involving more than 600 adults who followed either a healthy low-carb diet or a healthy low-fat diet for one year.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 26, 2026

While Nile crocodile eggs naturally incubate in underground nests in the wild, zoos typically hatch them in carefully controlled incubators, closely monitoring the temperature and humidity.

From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026

The SEC has sought information from banks that provided financing to Situational Awareness, which controlled some $100 billion in assets at its peak.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

More important, he didn’t need the pockets anymore to protect the magical piece of firewood that controlled his life span.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

Buss Sports Capital, which was started in September by Jesse and Joey Buss, joins a Padres ownership group that includes husband-and-wife controlling owners José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

“Why is IT and the administration controlling how I teach successful writing instruction?”

From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026

By controlling these effects separately, the researchers were able to overcome the usual conflict between creating more droplets and removing them quickly.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 23, 2026

"The tools have allowed me to become the boss of the pain instead of it controlling me," she said.

From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026

Hazel felt exhausted from her run through the maze while controlling the Mist, but she needed to pull off one more trick.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

Related Words

• administer
• command
• conduct
• dominate
• govern
• handle
• lead
• manage
• manipulate
• oversee
• regulate
• rule
• run
• supervise