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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

Health officials are urging residents to take preventive measures by using flea control year-round on their pets and not feeding stray animals.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026

The researchers also created matched control compounds that could bind to NUDT5 without causing the protein to be destroyed.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 24, 2026

Bernard Arnault has long worked to secure control of LVMH, where he serves as chief executive and chairman.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

Yet, the technology underpinning autonomous warfare risks outpacing the Russian and Ukrainian frameworks for maintaining some degree of human control over weapons.

From Salon ● Sep. 24, 2026

“I’m sorry. I thought I could speak through it, but I couldn’t control the magic.”

From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova

For now, the results highlight the importance of continued satellite monitoring of Arctic sea ice, along with the energy balance that controls how the ice melts and reforms.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026

Any bank that lacked such controls will be dunned by regulators.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

Here, Anderson’s message is clear: Whoever has the power controls the image.

From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026

The agency says tighter controls imposed by China and the Taliban's ban on poppy cultivation in Afghanistan have pushed production closer to consumer markets.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

“You humans always talk about magic and destiny like it’s the most powerful thing in the world. Like it controls you.”

From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff

In Paktia, an official said jets had bombed the Afghan Armed Forces' 203 Mansouri Corps, which is controlled by the Taliban, without providing any information on casualties.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

In a controlled experiment, professionals using AI finished writing tasks in 40% less time with 18% higher quality.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

To get a clearer picture, researchers in Canada examined results from 69 randomized controlled trials involving 153,902 adults.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 2026

Atletico manager Simeone rejected the suggestion the result would be overshadowed by the refereeing debate, saying his team had controlled the contest.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026

The northern armies controlled much of the homeland of the Dinka.

From "Lost Boy, Lost Girl" by John Bul Dau

Looking back, with hindsight, Overton - nicknamed Dell - thinks Uden did start to become controlling.

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026

Disney acquired a controlling stake in Hulu as part of its $71.3-billion purchase in 2019 of much of Rupert Murdoch’s Fox assets and has since taken full ownership.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026

One gives rise to structures responsible for essential functions such as breathing and controlling the heartbeat.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 2026

“There’s a premise underlying all of this that you can control AI by controlling the biggest LLMs,” Goertzel told MarketWatch.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026

“Finny, I—” there was no controlling what I said, the words were instinctive, like the reactions of someone cornered.

From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles

Related Words

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