/ kənˈtrəʊl; NAmE -ˈtroʊl/ noun , verb
■ noun
POWER
1.
[ U ] control (of / over sb/sth) the power to make decisions about how a country, an area, an organization, etc. is run :
The party is expecting to gain control of the council in the next election.
The Democrats will probably lose control of Congress.
A military junta took control of the country .
The city is in the control of enemy forces.
The city is under enemy control .
2.
[ U ] control (of / over sb/sth) the ability to make sb/sth do what you want :
The teacher had no control over the children.
She struggled to keep control of her voice.
She lost control of her car on the ice.
He got so angry he lost control (= shouted and said or did things he would not normally do) .
Owing to circumstances beyond our control , the flight to Rome has been cancelled.
The coach made the team work hard on ball control (= in a ball game) .
—see also self-control
LIMITING / MANAGING
3.
[ U , C ] control (of / on sth) (often in compounds) the act of restricting, limiting or managing sth; a method of doing this :
traffic control
talks on arms control
government controls on trade and industry
A new advance has been made in the control of malaria.
Price controls on food were ended.
a pest control officer
—see also birth control , quality control ➡ note at limit
IN MACHINE
4.
[ C , usually pl. ] the switches and buttons, etc. that you use to operate a machine or a vehicle :
the controls of an aircraft
the control panel
the volume control of a CD player
The co-pilot was at the controls when the plane landed.
—see also remote control
IN EXPERIMENT
5.
[ C ] ( technical ) a person, thing or group used as a standard of comparison for checking the results of a scientific experiment; an experiment whose result is known, used for checking working methods :
One group was treated with the new drug, and the control group was given a sugar pill.
PLACE
6.
[ sing. ] a place where orders are given or where checks are made; the people who work in this place :
air traffic control
We went through passport control and into the departure lounge.
This is Mission Control calling the space shuttle Discovery.
ON COMPUTER
7.
[ U ] (also conˈtrol key [ sing. ]) (on a computer keyboard) a key that you press when you want to perform a particular operation
•
IDIOMS
- be in control (of sth)
- be / get / run / etc. out of control
- be under control
- bring / get / keep sth under control
■ verb
( -ll- )
HAVE POWER
1.
[ vn ] to have power over a person, company, country, etc. so that you are able to decide what they must do or how it is run :
By the age of 21 he controlled the company.
The whole territory is now controlled by the army.
Can't you control your children?
LIMIT / MANAGE
2.
to limit sth or make it happen in a particular way :
[ vn ]
government attempts to control immigration
Many biological processes are controlled by hormones.
[ v wh- ]
Parents should control what their kids watch on television.
3.
[ vn ] to stop sth from spreading or getting worse :
Firefighters are still trying to control the blaze.
She was given drugs to control the pain.
MACHINE
4.
[ vn ] to make sth, such as a machine or system, work in the way that you want it to :
This knob controls the volume.
The traffic lights are controlled by a central computer.
STAY CALM
5.
[ vn ] to manage to make yourself remain calm, even though you are upset or angry :
I was so furious I couldn't control myself and I hit him.
He was finding it difficult to control his feelings.
••
WORD ORIGIN
late Middle English (as a verb in the sense check or verify accounts , especially by referring to a duplicate register): from Anglo-Norman French contreroller keep a copy of a roll of accounts, from medieval Latin contrarotulare , from contrarotulus copy of a roll, from contra- against + rotulus a roll. The noun is perhaps via French contrôle .