controller

noun

kuhn-TROH-ler/kənˈtɹoʊlɚ/UKkuhn-TROH-luh/kənˈtɹəʊlə/

9 meanings of controller

1
nouncountable
A device you hold in your hands to play video games.
My little brother always grabs the blue controller first.
She dropped her controller when the game got scary.
Similargamepad, joypad
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2
nouncountable
A person who is in charge of something and controls it.
The old king wanted to be the controller of every road and river.
Everyone knew the coach was the real controller of the team, not the owner.
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3
nouncountable
The top person who checks and manages the money of a company or government.
The controller found a mistake in last year's accounts.
Ask the controller before you spend more than the budget allows.
Similarcomptroller
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4
nouncountable
A device that controls an electric circuit or a system, using electricity or moving parts.
The driver pushed the controller forward, and the train began to move.
The controller in the heater keeps the room at the same temperature.
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5
nouncountable
A part that runs and controls a machine, especially a device connected to a computer.
The computer could not find the hard drive because its controller had failed.
Each printer has a small controller inside that tells it what to do.
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6
nouncountable
The person who directs a spy on a mission and passes messages to and from them.
The spy left a note for her controller under a park bench.
His controller told him to stop all contact for a month.
Similarhandler
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7
nouncountable
In some computer programs, the part that handles input and output and connects the program's data to what the user sees.
When you click the button, the controller decides what the program does next.
Our team wrote a new controller for the sign-up page.
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8
nouncountable
An iron block fixed to a ship's deck that grips a chain and controls it as it runs out.
The sailor made sure the chain sat firmly in the controller.
The links caught in the controller, and the chain stopped running out.
9
nouncountable
In grammar, the subject of a control verb, which also tells you who does the action of the verb after it.
In "Sam tried to leave," Sam is the controller, so we know Sam is the one leaving.
Our grammar teacher asked us to circle the controller in each sentence.
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Practice

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Origin

It came into English from French, which took it from Medieval Latin. The same Latin root also gave us the word control.