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control

[kuhn-trohl]
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verb (used with object), con·trolled, con·trol·ling.
  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.
  2. to hold in check; curb: to control a horse; to control one's emotions.
  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. Obsolete. to check or regulate (transactions), originally by means of a duplicate register.
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noun
  1. the act or power of controlling; regulation; domination or command: Who's in control here?
  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(def 1).
  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. Baseball. the ability of a pitcher to throw the ball into the strike zone consistently: The rookie pitcher has great power but no control.
  11. Philately. any device printed on a postage or revenue stamp to authenticate it as a government issue or to identify it for bookkeeping purposes.
  12. a spiritual agency believed to assist a medium at a séance.
  13. the supervisor to whom an espionage agent reports when in the field.
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Verb Phrases
  1. 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.
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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

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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. 2018

Related Words

disciplinerestrictionmanagementforcegovernmentrestraintjurisdictiondominationruleregulationcurbsupervisionoversightauthoritydominatehandleleadoverseesupervisemanage

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British Dictionary definitions for control

control

verb -trols, -trolling or -trolled (tr)
  1. to command, direct, or ruleto control a country
  2. to check, limit, curb, or regulate; restrainto 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
    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 determineunder control; out of control
  2. a means of regulation or restraint; curb; checka 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
    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
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Derived Formscontrollable, adjectivecontrollability or controllableness, nouncontrollably, adverb

Word Origin

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

v.

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).

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n.

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

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
control in Medicine

control

(kən-trōl′)
v.
  1. To verify or regulate a scientific experiment by conducting a parallel experiment or by comparing with another standard.
  2. To hold in restraint; check.
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n.
  1. A standard of comparison for checking or verifying the results of an experiment.
  2. An individual or group used as a standard of comparison in a control experiment.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
control in Science

control

[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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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Idioms and Phrases with control

control

see out of control; spin control.

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.