control

Pluralcontrols

Formscontrols, controlling, controlled

1. 1
   power overnouncountable or uncountable

   Influence or authority exercised over something or someone.

   The rebels seized control of the capital within days.

   Budget decisions remained under the director's control.

   UsageControl of or over something; under someone's control. People take, seize or lose control.

   Similarauthority, power, command, charge, dominance

2. 2
   verbtransitive

   To exercise influence over something or someone, directing or dictating how it behaves.

   The central bank controls interest rates to steer the economy.

   A handful of families control most of the region's farmland.

   UsageIt means direct or have power over, not inspect: check the tickets (not incorrect: control the tickets).

   Similarmanage, rule

3. 3
   operating devicenouncountable or uncountable

   A device or element used to operate a machine, vehicle or program, such as a lever, knob, button or on-screen box; often plural.

   The aircraft's controls responded sluggishly in the storm.

   She adjusted the temperature control until the room felt right.

   UsageOften plural for a vehicle: at the controls. One knob or button is named by its job: the volume control.

4. 4
   nouncountable or uncountable

   Action taken to limit, regulate, or reduce something, or a specific rule or method for achieving this, as in gun control, price controls, or pest control.

   Wage and price controls were lifted once inflation eased.

   Supporters of stricter gun control rallied outside the statehouse on Saturday.

   UsageUsually no article when speaking generally: gun control, pest control. Specific rules are often plural: price controls.

   Similarregulation, restriction, limit

5. 5
   verbtransitive

   To keep something in check by curbing or restraining it.

   The medication controls his blood pressure effectively.

   Authorities struggled to control the riot.

   UsageCommon with fires, diseases, symptoms and crowds: control the blaze, control the spread.

   Similarcurb, restrain, check, contain, manage

6. 6
   nouncountable or uncountable

   Restraint over one's own movements or emotions; self-control.

   Hearing the unfair accusation, he took a deep breath and struggled to keep control of himself.

   Years of training gave the dancer remarkable control over her body.

   UsageLose control, keep control of yourself, control over your body.

   Similarcomposure, restraint, poise, command

7. 7
   monitoringnouncountable or uncountable

   A check, procedure or safeguard set up to monitor activities, reduce risk and catch problems, as in budget controls or security controls.

   The project manager set up a budget control to catch overspending early.

   Effective controls flag delays before they derail the schedule.

   Similarcheck, safeguard, measure, procedure

   Note

   Project managers use the word for a check built into the plan itself, such as a budget control that measures spending and raises a flag when it drifts. In security work, a control is a safeguard: a password rule helps prevent unauthorized access, while an audit log records activity for review. These are usually countable uses: projects and security systems have controls, each serving a particular purpose. Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • Project budget controls monitor spending and identify departures from the plan. michigan.gov
   • Password rules help prevent unauthorized access. media.defense.gov
   • Audit logs record activity for subsequent review. irs.gov
8. 8
   baseline groupnouncountable or uncountable

   The group or trial in an experiment that does not receive the treatment being tested, used as a baseline for comparison.

   Results from the treatment group were measured against the control.

   Without a proper control, the study's findings carry little weight.

   Note

   A clipping: the noun is control group or control experiment with the second word dropped. Results are measured against the control, and a study without a proper one carries little weight. Keep it distinct from the statistical verb. Adjusting an analysis for a variable is controlling for it, while the control is the comparison group or trial itself.

9. 9
   noununcountable

   The keyboard key marked Ctrl, held down while another key is pressed so that the computer carries out a command.

   Hold down control and press Z to undo your last change.

   On a Mac, the Command key handles most of the shortcuts that control does on a Windows PC.

   Note

   A modifier key: while it is held, the other keys do something different. On early terminals it turned a letter into a control character, a code that told the machine to act, such as ringing a bell. Shortcuts are written with the label printed on the key, Ctrl+C or Ctrl-C, but said aloud with the full word, so a written Ctrl+Z is read as "control Z". In running text the key's name is often capitalized, as in the Control key.

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