# control

Pronunciation: say "kuhn-TROHL" US /kənˈtɹoʊl/, UK /kənˈtɹəʊl/

## Noun

1. Influence or authority exercised over something or someone.
   - Simple: Power or authority over something or someone.
   - _The rebels seized control of the capital within days._
   - _Budget decisions remained under the director's control._
3. A device or element used to operate a machine, vehicle or program, such as a lever, knob, button or on-screen box; often plural.
   - Simple: A button, switch, lever or screen item you use to make a machine or program work.
   - _The aircraft's controls responded sluggishly in the storm._
   - _She adjusted the temperature control until the room felt right._
4. 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.
   - Simple: The limiting or reducing of something, or a rule or way of doing it, like pest control.
   - _Wage and price controls were lifted once inflation eased._
   - _Supporters of stricter gun control rallied outside the statehouse on Saturday._
6. Restraint over one's own movements or emotions; self-control.
   - Simple: The ability to hold back your feelings or actions.
   - _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._
7. A check, procedure or safeguard set up to monitor activities, reduce risk and catch problems, as in budget controls or security controls.
   - Simple: A rule or check put in place to catch problems early or keep something safe.
   - _The project manager set up a budget control to catch overspending early._
   - _Effective controls flag delays before they derail the schedule._
8. The group or trial in an experiment that does not receive the treatment being tested, used as a baseline for comparison.
   - Simple: In an experiment, the group that does not get the thing being tested, so results can be compared.
   - _Results from the treatment group were measured against the control._
   - _Without a proper control, the study's findings carry little weight._
10. The checkpoint at which officials examine travelers' passports, tickets, or goods, typically at a border crossing or an airport.
   - Simple: The place where officers check travelers' passports, tickets, or goods, often at an airport or a border.
   - _After landing, travelers must clear immigration control before collecting their bags._
   - _Our bags were opened at customs control, but the officers found nothing we needed to declare._
9. The keyboard key marked Ctrl, held down while another key is pressed so that the computer carries out a command.
   - Simple: The key marked Ctrl on a computer keyboard, which you press with another key to do something.
   - _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._

## Verb

2. To exercise influence over something or someone, directing or dictating how it behaves.
   - Simple: To have power over how someone or something acts.
   - _The central bank controls interest rates to steer the economy._
   - _A handful of families control most of the region's farmland._
5. To keep something in check by curbing or restraining it.
   - Simple: To hold something back or keep it from getting worse.
   - _The medication controls his blood pressure effectively._
   - _Authorities struggled to control the riot._
11. To account for the effect of a particular variable, in the design of a study or in the analysis of its data, so that it does not distort the results.
   - Simple: To stop other things from changing the results of a study, when setting it up or when working with its numbers.
   - _The team controlled for diet when studying the drug's effect on weight._
   - _Analysts control for seasonal variation before comparing the figures._

## Verb

12. To check a person's figures or a record, especially a financial account, against a second account to confirm they are accurate. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To check that something is correct by comparing it with another record.
13. To call someone to account, to take them to task, or to challenge them for their conduct. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To challenge or scold someone, asking them to explain what they did.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A duplicate book, register, or account kept to check or correct another record.
- (noun) A grammatical construction in which the understood subject of a predicate is fixed by another expression in the sentence.
- (noun) Any of the physical factors that determine a place's climate, such as latitude, altitude, ocean currents, or distance from large bodies of water.
- (noun) A spirit believed to take possession of a medium or psychic, allowing other spirits to communicate with the living.
- (noun) A checkpoint along an audax cycling route, where riders must register to prove they completed the course in order.

## Origin

It comes from Middle English controllen, from French contreroller, from Medieval Latin contrārotulāre, from contrārotulus, a counter-roll or register used to verify accounts. This came from Latin contrā ('against') plus rotulus/rotula ('a little roll or wheel'), a diminutive of rota ('a wheel').

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/control (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).