controller
Americannoun
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an employee, often an officer, of a business firm who checks expenditures, finances, etc.; comptroller.
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a person who regulates, directs, or restrains.
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British Aeronautics. a dispatcher.
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a regulating mechanism; governor.
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Also called control unit, processor. Computers. the key component of a device, as a terminal, printer, or external storage unit, that contains the circuitry necessary to interpret and execute instructions fed into the device.
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Digital Technology. a remote piece of hardware used to direct or control an electronic device.
a video game controller.
noun
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a person who directs, regulates, or restrains
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Also called: comptroller. a business executive or government officer who is responsible for financial planning, control, etc
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the equipment concerned with controlling the operation of an electrical device
Other Word Forms
- controllership noun
Etymology
Origin of controller
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English countrollour, from Anglo-French countrero(u)llour, Middle French contrerolleur, equivalent to contrerolle “duplicate roll” + -eur, -our, from Latin -ōr- or -ātōr- noun suffixes; control, -or 2, -ator
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Runways need extra clearing, planes need further de-icing, air traffic controllers are stretched thin and flight crews time out.
From Salon
School officials had been unaware of the California law at the time Ayala sued, and have since updated their catalog to comply with it, the school’s controller, Joshua Taylor, said.
From Los Angeles Times
The study suggests dopamine does not act as a moment-by-moment controller of movement.
From Science Daily
“You want to go to San Juan,” an air-traffic controller told the JetBlue flight crew, “it’s going to be at your own risk.”
All of the 55 prison employees who earned more than $500,000 in income last year were doctors, dentists, psychiatrists or medical executives, according to state controller data.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
