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definitions

remote control

See more synonyms for remote control on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. control of the operation or performance of an apparatus from a distance, as the control of a guided missile by radio signals.
  2. Also called remote. a device used to control the operation of an apparatus or machine, as a television set, from a distance.

Origin of remote control

First recorded in 1900–05
Related formsre·mote-con·trol, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for remote control

remote, clicker

Examples from the Web for remote control

Contemporary Examples of remote control

  • Long story short: if you can operate a remote-control car, you can operate a drone.

    The Daily Beast logo
    Does Your Drone Deliver?

    Abby Haglage

    August 20, 2013

  • By 1989, the East Germans had removed their mines and remote-control machine guns.

    The Daily Beast logo
    Scaling the Berlin Wall

    Michael R. Meyer

    October 31, 2009

Historical Examples of remote control

  • At first I thought he was just a remote-control tool, but I finally saw that he was a real, honest-to-goodness robot.

    Unwise Child

    Gordon Randall Garrett

  • The stores of Hunter and Nereid rockets—especially the remote-control jobs—were broken out.

    The Invaders

    William Fitzgerald Jenkins

  • They allege that the planetoid is a security risk, in that it could be used for remote-control bombing of any of their planets.

    Mr. President

    Stephen Arr

  • Facing them were three armchairs, a remote-control box beside one and another Kwann cushion behind and between the other two.

    Oomphel in the Sky

    Henry Beam Piper

  • A remote-control robot could never get close enough to the Nipe to do any good.

    Anything You Can Do ...

    Gordon Randall Garrett

British Dictionary definitions for remote control

remote control

noun
  1. control of a system or activity by a person at a different place, usually by means of radio or ultrasonic signals or by electrical signals transmitted by wire
  2. Also:: remote a hand-held device that enables remote control of a system or appliance
Derived Formsremote-controlled, adjective
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