Dictionary![]() ![]() con•trolPronunciation: (kun-trōl'), [key] —v., -trolled, -trol•ling, —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. 1. the act or power of controlling; regulation; domination or command: Who's in control here? 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. a standard of comparison in scientific experimentation. 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. Baseball.the ability of a pitcher to throw the ball into the strike zone consistently: The rookie pitcher has great power but no control. 11. Philately.any device printed on a postage or revenue stamp to authenticate it as a government issue or to identify it for bookkeeping purposes. 12. a spiritual agency believed to assist a medium at a séance. 13. the supervisor to whom an espionage agent reports when in the field. Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
See also:
|