— controllable , adj. , n. — controllability, controllableness , n. — controllably , adv. — controlless , adj. — controllingly , adv.
/keuhn trohl"/ , v. , controlled, controlling , n.
v.t.
1. to exercise restraint or direction over; dominate; command.
2. to hold in check; curb: to control a horse; to control one's emotions.
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. Obs. to check or regulate (transactions), originally by means of a duplicate register.
n.
6. the act or power of controlling; regulation; domination or command: Who's in control here?
7. the situation of being under the regulation, domination, or command of another: The car is out of control.
8. check or restraint: Her anger is under control.
9. a legal or official means of regulation or restraint: to institute wage and price controls.
10. a standard of comparison in scientific experimentation.
11. a person who acts as a check; controller.
12. a device for regulating and guiding a machine, as a motor or airplane.
13. controls , a coordinated arrangement of such devices.
14. prevention of the flourishing or spread of something undesirable: rodent control.
15. Baseball. the ability of a pitcher to throw the ball into the strike zone consistently: The rookie pitcher has great power but no control.
16. Philately. any device printed on a postage or revenue stamp to authenticate it as a government issue or to identify it for bookkeeping purposes.
17. a spiritual agency believed to assist a medium at a séance.
18. the supervisor to whom an espionage agent reports when in the field.
[ 1425-75; late ME co ( u ) ntrollen (v.) contreroller to keep a duplicate account or roll, deriv. of contrerolle (n.). See COUNTER-, ROLL ]
Syn. 1. manage, govern, rule. 2. restrain, bridle, constrain. 6. management, government, reign, rule, mastery. See authority .