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control

[ kuhn-trohl ]

/ kənˈtroʊl /

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See synonyms for: control / controlled / controlling / controls 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.

SYNONYMS FOR control

1 manage, govern, rule.

2 restrain, bridle, constrain.

6 dominion, reign, rule, mastery.

See synonyms for control on Thesaurus.com

QUIZZES

QUIZ YOURSELF ON "WAS" VS. "WERE"!

Were you ready for a quiz on this topic? Well, here it is! See how well you can differentiate between the uses of "was" vs. "were" in this quiz.

Question 1 of 7

“Was” is used for the indicative past tense of “to be,” and “were” is only used for the subjunctive past tense.

true

false

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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

OTHER WORDS FROM control

con·trol·la·ble, adjective, nouncon·trol·la·bil·i·ty, con·trol·la·ble·ness, nouncon·trol·la·bly, adverbcon·trol·less, adjective

con·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

Words nearby control

contrite, contrition, contrivance, contrive, contrived, control, control account, control board, control center, control character, control chart

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

WHEN TO USE

What are other ways to say control?

The noun control means “domination or command.” How is control different from authority and influence? Find out on Thesaurus.com.

Example sentences from the Web for control

Companies like Rice Up still promote rice cakes as a whole-grain option for weight control.
The Rise and Fall of the Rice Cake, America’s One-Time Favorite Health Snack|Brenna Houck|September 17, 2020|Eater
I was talking about what we’re doing is under control, but I’m not talking about the virus.
Timeline: The 124 times Trump has downplayed the coronavirus threat|Aaron Blake, JM Rieger|September 17, 2020|Washington Post
Alexander also requested an extraordinary amount of control over the reports, asking that he be allowed to review them before publication and even make edits.
The Trump administration’s politicization of coronavirus comes to a head|Aaron Blake|September 16, 2020|Washington Post
At the beginning, before anybody knew what it was, I spoke with President Xi, and he said, we are doing it well, we have it under control.
Trump’s incoherent defense of his coronavirus response|Aaron Blake|September 16, 2020|Washington Post

A month later, a Fox News poll found 70 percent of likely voters felt the pandemic was “not at all” or “somewhat” under control.
Trump, in town hall, says he wouldn’t have done anything differently on pandemic|Colby Itkowitz, Josh Dawsey, Felicia Sonmez, John Wagner|September 16, 2020|Washington Post
From there we took the train to Nice, France, but the French border control caught us and sent us back to Italy.
Ghost Ships of the Mediterranean|Barbie Latza Nadeau|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Spin control began, Florida-style: the opinion only covers some counties, some people, some times.
The Back Alley, Low Blow-Ridden Fight to Stop Gay Marriage in Florida Is Finally Over|Jay Michaelson|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
The police cannot ultimately control public opinion unilaterally.
We Need Our Police to Be Better Than This|Nick Gillespie|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
Solely over one man therein thou hast quite absolute control.
Pearls of Thought|Maturin M. Ballou
In a few minutes, however, he had it again under control, and they soon reached the berg.
The Giant of the North|R.M. Ballantyne
A certain amount of his ill-humour vented, Tressan made an effort to regain his self-control.
St. Martin's Summer|Rafael Sabatini
The nativesʼ anxiety to oust the Spaniards was far stronger than their wish to be under American, or indeed any foreign, control.
The Philippine Islands|John Foreman
The marvelous improvements in mechanism and tone production and control in 1886 to 1913 by Robt.
The Recent Revolution in Organ Building|George Laing Miller

British Dictionary definitions for control

control

/ (kənˈtrəʊl) /

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 forms of control

controllable, 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

Medical definitions for control

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.

Scientific definitions for control

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.

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control

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