CONTROLS | English Meaning, Definition, and Pronunciation

late Middle English (as a verb in the sense ‘check or verify accounts’, especially by referring to a duplicate register): from Anglo-Norman French contreroller ‘keep a copy of a roll of accounts’, from medieval Latin contrarotulare, from contrarotulus ‘copy of a roll’, from contra- ‘against’ + rotulus ‘a roll’. The noun is perhaps via French contrôle

the power to influence or direct people's behaviour or the course of events

power to direct

• the whole operation is under the control of a production manager
• the situation was slipping out of her control

a person or thing used as a standard of comparison for checking the results of a survey or experiment

standard of comparison

• platelet activity was higher in patients with the disease than in the controls

a member of an intelligence organization who personally directs the activities of a spy

person directing spy

• he sat with his KGB control as the details of his new assignment were explained

a high card that will prevent the opponents from establishing a particular suit

high card

• he has controls in both minor suits

determine the behaviour or supervise the running of

direct and supervise

• he was appointed to control the company's marketing strategy

take into account (an extraneous factor that might affect the results of an experiment)

take factor into account

• no attempt was made to control for variations