CONTROL


Meaning of CONTROL in English

I. kən.ˈtrōl transitive verb

( controlled ; controlled ; controlling ; controls )

Etymology: Middle English controllen, from Middle French conteroller, contreroller, from contrerolle, n.

1. obsolete : to check by a duplicate register or account : regulate

control accounts

2.

a. archaic : to check, test, or verify by counter or parallel evidence : verify by comparison

b. : to incorporate suitable controls in (as an experiment) or provide (as an experimental procedure) with suitable controls

devise controlled tests of the efficacy of a drug

3. obsolete : to call to account : censure

4.

a.

(1) : to exercise restraining or directing influence over : regulate , curb

control one's anger

controlling her interest in the enterprise

(2) : have power over : rule

a single company controls the industry

b. obsolete : overpower

c. : to reduce the incidence or severity of especially to innocuous levels

control an insect population

control a disease

Synonyms: see conduct

II. noun

( -s )

Usage: often attributive

Etymology: Middle French contrerolle copy of an account, counter-register, verification, scrutiny, from contre- counter- + rolle roll, catalog, account — more at roll

1.

a. : the act or fact of controlling

man's increasing control over nature

: power or authority to guide or manage : directing or restraining domination

under parental control

the car went out of control on a curve

b. : effective and reliable skill in the use of a tool, instrument, technique or artistic medium

have control of several languages

the singer's control of her voice was perfect

a poet's control of a variety of metrical forms

a baseball pitcher needs control as well as speed

c. : regulation or direction in the use or application of an artistic medium resulting in proportion and appropriate emphasis

d. : reduction or regulation of wildlife population of an area by killing

e. : the regulation of economic activity especially by government directive

price controls

wage controls

rent control

— usually used in plural

f. : application of policies and procedures for directing, regulating, and coordinating production, administration, and other business activities in a way to achieve the objectives of the enterprise

2. : restraint , reserve

control of the passions

: self-restraint : possession and command of one's faculties

her hands wrung pale in effort at control — Amy Lowell

3. : a means or method of controlling : one that controls or determines: as

a. : something that affords a standard of comparison or means of verification (as an organism, culture, or group in a control experiment) : control experiment

half the dogs were injected, the others reserved as a control

a control group

b. : a hand-operated or automatic mechanism used to regulate or guide the operation of a machine or an apparatus or system (as a steam shovel, a radio, a heating system) — usually used in plural

c. : a system of relatively precise field measurements (as a traverse or a triangulation system) with which local secondary surveys may be tied in to ensure their essential accuracy

d. : a personality or spirit believed to actuate the utterances or performances of a spiritualist medium

e. : any of the physical factors (as latitude, altitude, ocean currents) determining the climate of a place

f. : any of the factors determining the nature of geological formations at a given place

g. : a recording device in the form of a letter or number or combination of letters and numbers in the margin of a sheet of British stamps printed between 1887 and 1948

h. : a control mark on a stamp

Synonyms: see power

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.