control
Americanverb (used with object)
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controls,
present (3rd person singular)
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controlled,
past participle, past
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controlling
present participle
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to exercise restraint or direction over; dominate: command.
The car is difficult to control at high speeds.
That zone is controlled by enemy troops.
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to hold in check; curb.
to control a horse;
to control one's emotions.
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to test or verify (a scientific experiment) by a parallel experiment or other standard of comparison.
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to eliminate or prevent the flourishing or spread of.
to control a forest fire.
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Biology. (of an organism) to initiate an internal response to external stimuli.
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Obsolete. to check or regulate (transactions), originally by means of a duplicate register.
noun
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controls
plural
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the act or power of controlling; regulation; domination or command.
Who's in control here?
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the situation of being under the regulation, domination, or command of another.
The car is out of control.
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check or restraint.
Her anger is under control.
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a legal or official means of regulation or restraint.
to institute wage and price controls.
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Statistics. control variable.
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a person who acts as a check; controller.
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a device for regulating and guiding a machine, as a motor or airplane.
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controls, a coordinated arrangement of such devices.
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prevention of the flourishing or spread of something undesirable.
rodent control.
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Biology. an organism’s ability to initiate an internal response to external stimuli (distinguished from regulation).
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Baseball. the ability of a pitcher to throw the ball into the strike zone consistently.
The rookie pitcher has great power but no control.
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Philately. any device printed on a postage or revenue stamp to authenticate it as a government issue or to identify it for bookkeeping purposes.
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a spiritual agency believed to assist a medium at a séance.
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the supervisor to whom an espionage agent reports when in the field.
verb phrase
verb
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to command, direct, or rule
to control a country
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to check, limit, curb, or regulate; restrain
to control one's emotions
to control a fire
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to regulate or operate (a machine)
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to verify (a scientific experiment) by conducting a parallel experiment in which the variable being investigated is held constant or is compared with a standard
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to regulate (financial affairs)
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to examine and verify (financial accounts)
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to restrict or regulate the authorized supply of (certain substances, such as drugs)
noun
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power to direct or determine
under control
out of control
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a means of regulation or restraint; curb; check
a frontier control
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(often plural) a device or mechanism for operating a car, aircraft, etc
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a standard of comparison used in a statistical analysis or scientific experiment
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a device that regulates the operation of a machine. A dynamic control is one that incorporates a governor so that it responds to the output of the machine it regulates
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( as modifier )
control panel
control room
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spiritualism an agency believed to assist the medium in a séance
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Also called: control mark. a letter, or letter and number, printed on a sheet of postage stamps, indicating authenticity, date, and series of issue
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one of a number of checkpoints on a car rally, orienteering course, etc, where competitors check in and their time, performance, etc, is recorded
Usage
What does control mean? To control is to dominate or command something or someone, as in Tomas showed excellent control of his hand several weeks after his surgery. As a noun, control can refer to the act of controlling, as in I can’t stand it—my parents have total control over my life!To control is also to restrain or keep in check, as in Toddlers are not known for control over their emotions. Control can also refer to keeping something in check. When you keep your emotions under control, you still feel them but you don’t let them overwhelm you. To control can also mean to eliminate the spread of something, such as with a fire or an illness. In statistics, to control for means to compare only like data to reduce the number of variables in the comparison. Example: Who has control of the lights for tonight’s show?
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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controllabilitynoun
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controllablenessnoun
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precontrolnoun
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supercontrolnoun
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overcontrolverb (used with object)
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subcontrolverb (used with object)
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controllableadjective
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controllessadjective
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noncontrollableadjective
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noncontrolledadjective
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noncontrollingadjective
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quasi-controlledadjective
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quasi-controllingadjective
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uncontrolledadjective
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uncontrollingadjective
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well-controlledadjective
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controllablyadverb
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controllinglyadverb
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noncontrollablyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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controlsimple
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controlssimple
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have controlledperfect
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has controlledperfect
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am controllingprogressive
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are controllingprogressive
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is controllingprogressive
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have been controllingperfect progressive
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has been controllingperfect progressive
Past
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controlledsimple
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had controlledperfect
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was controllingprogressive
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were controllingprogressive
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had been controllingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of control
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English co(u)ntrollen (verb), from Anglo-French contreroller “to keep a duplicate account or roll,” derivative of contrerolle (noun); see counter-, roll
Explanation
To have control is to have the power to run something in an orderly way. A skillful teacher maintains control over students who might otherwise waste time or be disruptive. A control can also be a device used to operate a machine, like the remote control for a television. The control in an experiment is the group that gets left alone so scientists can compare "before and after" changes in other groups. The verb control means "to be in charge." If you're a group's treasurer, you control its finances. It can also mean "hold back." You might need to control your hyperactive puppy when the mail carrier comes around.
Vocabulary lists containing control
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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The Scientific Method
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The ACT Science Test: The Scientific Method
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Following a night of intense fighting in Niamey, Russia's Africa Corps helped Nigerien loyalist forces to regain control of Air Base 101 at Diori Hamani International Airport.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
Their control of ingredients, equipment and the production line became one of the company’s secret weapons: Because they are gluten-free and made in a peanut-free space, JonnyPops can be served at every birthday party.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
“Sure, it’s a shock from where it was six months ago, but from a long-run perspective, once you control for price growth, it’s not a big deal,” said Thornberg, founding partner of Beacon Economics.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
Petermann is one of Greenland's largest marine-terminating glaciers and helps control the flow of ice from the Greenland Ice Sheet into the ocean.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026
The dash resembles something from a retro sci-fi movie, a spaceship’s control panels or Doc Brown’s modified DeLorean.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Like the Cybercab, Zoox taxis lack driver’s controls such as a steering wheel and gear shift.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
They said because Which?'s listing was not "live" on its site across the two months it was present, "some of our automatic fraud controls were not triggered to completely remove the closed listing".
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
Gamers of 2026, accustomed to modern controls and graphics, would find it very difficult to play the original, Tomaszewski said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026
"The limbic system, sometimes called the 'reptilian brain,' controls emotion broadly speaking -- but it also has other components with distinct functions," explains Imam.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 31, 2026
I stand at the cockpit’s controls, trying everything I know, but the shuttle doesn’t respond.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
The researchers studied 41 healthy participants while they made risky choices under carefully controlled breathing conditions.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026
Speaking at the same event, the head of open-source messaging application Signal, Meredith Whittaker, warned about AI being controlled by a handful of billionaires, but urged the audience "don't buy the hype".
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
Britain has controlled the islands since 1833, following earlier periods of intermittent French, Spanish and British settlement and competing Argentine claims.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
Open-source AI models can be downloaded and adapted by users, unlike many AI systems that are controlled by a single company.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
The northern armies controlled much of the homeland of the Dinka.
From "Lost Boy, Lost Girl" by John Bul Dau
Head Start’s regulations have swollen to 120-plus pages, controlling everything from the square footage of outdoor play space to transportation routing and myriad paper credentials for staff.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
Portugal's government said Friday it would pursue talks with both Air France-KLM and Lufthansa on privatising a controlling stake in national airline TAP Air Portugal.
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
Earlier this year he spearheaded a consortium who attempted to acquire a controlling stake in his former club Sevilla but the bid failed.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
It was 22% contained as of Tuesday evening as fire crews indicated progress in controlling the blaze had been made.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
And Halliday was obviously the dungeon master, even if he was now controlling the game from beyond the grave.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
