| 释义 |
▪ I. control, n.|kənˈtrəʊl|
Forms: 6 controlle, 6–7 controll, -oule, -ole, 7 comptrol(e, 7–9 controul, 8– control.
[perh. a. F. contrôle, earlier contrerolle ‘the copie of a roll (of account, etc.), a paralell of the same qualitie and content with th' originall; also, a controlling or ouerseeing’ (Cotgr.), corresp. to med.L. contrārotulus, f. contrā against, counter (cf. contra- 3) + rotulus roll. But, as the n. appears only about 1600 in Eng., and app. not in the original literal sense, but only as a noun of action, it was probably then formed immediately from the verb. A few examples of counter-roll (q.v.) directly represent the Fr.
Johnson (copied in later Dicts.) has as first sense, but without quotation, ‘A register or account kept by another officer, that each may be examined by the other’. This J. retained from Bailey's folio, where it was founded on the statement in Kersey's Phillips, 1706, ‘properly, a Book, or Register, in which a Roll is kept of other Registers’. But this is merely an etymological remark, applicable to med.L. contrarotulus, and OF. contrerolle; there is no evidence that control was ever so used in Eng.: see counter-roll.]
1. a. The fact of controlling, or of checking and directing action; the function or power of directing and regulating; domination, command, sway.
Board of Control: a board of six members established by Pitt in 1784 for the supervision of the East India Company in the government of British India; abolished in 1858.
Control Department: a former department of the British army, later subdivided into the departments of Commissariat and Transport; the name was abolished in 1875.
1590Shakes. Com. Err. ii. i. 19 The winged fowles Are their males subiects, and at their controules. 1601― Twel. N. ii. v. 74 Quenching my familiar smile with an austere regard of controll. 1788Priestley Lect. Hist. v. lxii. 498 The only advantage that can accrue from conquering a nation is..the controul of its commerce. 1820W. Irving Sketch Bk. I. 107 Over no nation does the press hold a more absolute control than over the people of America. 1886Law Times LXXXI. 59/2 Permitting offensive smells to emanate from certain drains under their control.
1844H. H. Wilson Brit. India I. 497 Correspondence between the Board of Controul and the Crown. 1853Bright Sp. India 2 June (1876) 2 The President of the Board of Control.
b. Colloq. phr. everything('s) under control: all is as it should be; everything is in order.
1933S. Howard Alien Corn i. 32 Everything under control? 1939I. Baird Waste Heritage xx. 285 You can go right back to sleep now, everything's under control. 1958Woman's Own 16 July 13/3 Everything's under control, I think. Shall I come over tomorrow around eleven?
c. Radio. (See quot. 1941.)
1941B.B.C. Gloss. Broadc. Terms 7 Control, artificial regulation of the dynamic range of a programme output, by means of a control potentiometer, to bring it within the limits of an electrical medium of communication, these limits being determined by overloading on the one hand and under-modulation on the other. 1962A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio i. 13 The man responsible for balance, mixing, and control.
2. Restraint, check. without control: unrestrainedly, freely.
1594Shakes. Rich. III, iii. v. 84 Where his raging eye..Without controll, lusted to make a prey. 1649W. Blithe Eng. Improv. Impr. (1652) 122 This..bruising of the Stalk doth give a kind of Check or Comptrole unto the Sappe. 1715–20Pope Iliad i. 108 Speak what thou know'st, and speak without controul. 1768Beattie Minstr. ii. xlvi, Lust that defies controul. 1837Thirlwall Greece IV. xxx. 164 His operations were subject to so little controul, that he was able to insert forgeries. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 441 Calmness..and control of the passions.
3. a. A method or means of restraint; a check. Also, a means adopted, esp. by the government, for the regulation of prices, the consumption of goods, etc.; a restriction (usu. in pl.).
1752Hume Ess. & Treat. (1777) I. 14 The particular checks and controuls provided by the constitution. 1879Gladstone Glean. III. i. 19 The essential conditions of civil society may require an universal controul, or veto. [1922Encycl. Brit. XXX. 762/2 The process was checked by the complete control..of many of the foods included in the budget which determined the cost-of-living index number.] 1935Economist 16 Feb. 351/2 That scheme is one which is designed—with the backing of the Government—to stabilise an important industrial material at a reasonable price. Public sympathy with such ‘controls’ will..evaporate. 1941New Statesman 26 Apr. 431 After the war when the consumption controls are relaxed. 1948Ann. Reg. 1947 89 [The Government's] financial policy had bred a need for many of their controls.
b. In mod. scientific use: A standard of comparison used to check the inferences deduced from an experiment, by application of the ‘Method of Difference’. Often attrib. as in control-experiment, a test experiment devised with this end in view.
1875Darwin Insectiv. Pl. xvii. 413 Four bladders were first tried as a control experiment. 1880C. & F. Darwin Movem. Pl. 162 Radicles without any attached squares, which served as standards of comparison or controls. 1890Nature 11 Dec. 122 Control mice died of tetanus within 48 hours. 1936Brit. Jrnl. Psychol. Oct. 155 No. 11 [of a series of jokes] was a control, a cutting from The Times..which evoked very little laughter. 1952W. J. H. Sprott Social Pyschol. 120 Usually the conduct of the experimental group is compared with a ‘control’ group which has not been through the experimental mill. 1958Listener 25 Dec. 1080/1 Each viewer was matched as closely as possible with a control who differed..only by not being exposed to television. 1962Lancet 2 June 1145/2 The subjects investigated were 13 controls, 8 patients with a nephrotic syndrome, 11 patients with acute pylonephritis, [etc.].
c. In automobile racing, a section of the road, usually through a town or village, over which speed is controlled; also, a point on the road or track where officials are stationed and contesting cars are halted for examination and repairs; similarly, a station in aircraft racing. Also attrib.
1900Daily News 2 May 7/2 These automobile fellows..give you a programme with day runs full of ‘Controls’ and eight miles an hour slowings-up through towns. 1903Westm. Gaz. 1 July 7/3 The control timekeepers can hand in their final reports. 1904A. B. F. Young Compl. Motorist xvi. 320 At a control established in some wayside village..stands a little group of officials with their paraphernalia of papers, stop-watches, reports, and time-sheets. 1912André Beaumont My 3 Big Flights 86 On arriving at any control the pilot had to show two of the stamped parts both on the aeroplane and motor. 1928Daily Tel. 17 July 7/7 At each of the ‘controls’ a compulsory halt of a certain duration will be made.
d. The apparatus by means of which a machine, as an aeroplane or motor vehicle, is controlled during operation; also, any of the mechanisms of a control apparatus, or (in pl.) collectively for the complete apparatus. So dual control: see dual a. 3.
1908H. G. Wells War in Air iii, The engine..was worked by electric controls from this forepart. 1913Curtiss & Post Curtiss Aviation Bk. vi. i. 285 One day when I was up in the air pretty high I seemed to forget..how to operate the controls. 1913Aeroplane 13 Feb. 176/2 The control is dual; all moving gear is made of non-magnetic material, and all control wires are duplicated. 1917‘Theta’ War Flying 37 A dual-control machine. 1918E. M. Roberts Flying Fighter 303 My feet had been forced off the rudder control. 1925Morris Owner's Man. 97 Slow running control not adjusted properly... Carburetter control improperly set. 1966Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 21 Oct. 12 Controls that are hard to reach, gauges that are difficult to read..too often are hidden factors in road deaths.
e. Bridge. A card which will enable its holder to win a trick in a given suit at a desired point in the play.
1906M. S. Hess Correct Bridge 5 The principles of placing the lead, holding up the control of an opponent's suit, [etc.]..have all been carefully considered. 1938J. Culbertson Contract Bridge xv. 184 The presence or absence of control cards can affect the success of your slam contract. Ibid., You may then investigate the number of controls that you have. 1958Listener 4 Dec. 965/3 If opponents have a trump control they can wait until dummy's trumps are exhausted.
f. Computers. In full control unit. That part of a computer which controls the operation of the other units and in recent computers interprets the coded instructions.
1946Math. Tables & Other Aids to Computation II. 102 Each program control consists of a set of program switches, a flip-flop, an input terminal..and associated tube circuits. 1948Gloss. Computer Terms (M.I.T. Servomechanisms Lab. Rep. R–138) 4 Control, that part of the computer which controls the operation of the storage and the arithmetic element. 1953A. D. & K. H. V. Booth Autom. Digital Calculators iv. 25 The control must be capable of receiving the coded order from the memory and storing it during the execution process. 1962R. Wooldridge Introd. Computing x. 185 The five basic parts of a digital computer: input, storage, arithmetic unit, output and control unit. 1969B. Hodge Computers for Engineers i. 19 The control unit, through switching circuits, directs the flow of information through the system and automatically times and sequences the operations called for by the program.
4. a. A person who acts as a check; a controller.
1786Hist. Europe in Ann. Reg. 137/1 They were always about him, as checks or controuls upon his conduct. 1790Burke Fr. Rev. 64 Men formed to be instruments, not controls. 1855Milman Lat. Chr. V. ix. vii. 371 He could not be a resident rival and control upon the Doge.
b. Spiritualism. A spirit who controls the words and actions of a medium in a trance (see quot. 1961).
1877H. P. Blavatsky Isis Unveiled II. i. 15 This is an unexpected honor indeed, for our American ‘controls’ in general, and the innocent ‘Indian guides’ in particular. 1884Stuart C. Cumberland in Pall Mall G. 31 Dec. 2/2 These ‘controls’—these ‘astral bodies,’ or whatever they are called. 1885Academy 11 July 20/1 He was a rank Spiritualist, a tool in the hands of his Control. 1890W. James Princ. Psychol. I. x. 393 In old times the foreign ‘control’ was usually a demon, and is so now in communities which favor that belief. 1902O. Lodge in Proc. Soc. Psychical Research June 65 Everything known to the normal Mrs. Thompson must be considered equally known to the ostensible ‘control’ speaking with Mrs. Thompson's mouth. 1961W. H. Salter Zoar ix. 112 In the early days of trance-mediumship, the view was prevalent that during trance a spirit invaded the medium's body of which it took complete and undivided control... Hence the personalities who claimed to manifest during the trance were called ‘Controls’... In course of time, however, it became desirable to distinguish..spirits who..confined themselves to introducing the Communicators and relaying their messages in the third person [etc.]... It is to spirits of this second kind that the word ‘Control’ is now mostly applied.
5. Comb. control cable, control engineer, control mechanism, control point, control station, control switch, control system, control wire; control board, (a) a control panel; (b) a board (board n. 8 b) having control of an organization, business, etc.; control circuit, an electrical circuit that controls the operation of certain devices, machines, etc.; also (with hyphen) attrib.; control column (see quot. 1919); control cubicle (see quot.); control desk, a desk incorporating a control panel; control electrode, an electrode to initiate or vary the current flowing between other electrodes; control-experiment: see 3 b; control lever, a lever by which a machine is controlled; spec. = control column; control line (see quots.); control panel, a board, panel, etc., on which are mounted switches, dials, etc., for the remote control or operation of electrical or other apparatus; control register, in a computer (see quots.); control rod Nuclear Engin., a retractable rod containing material which readily absorbs neutrons, inserted into a nuclear reactor to control the rate of reaction; control room, a room in or from which a certain operation is controlled; control stick Aeronaut., control column, ‘joy-stick’; control surface Aeronaut., a movable surface or aerofoil by means of which the flight of an aircraft is controlled; control tower, a tower or other elevated building at an aerodrome from which aircraft and other traffic are controlled by radio, etc.; also fig.; control unit (see sense 3 f above).
1907F. H. Davies Electric Power xx. 220 There is a vast amount of switchgear..but interest is mainly centred in the control boards. 1939J. Berryman in Amis & Conquest Spectrum (1961) 169 The captain left the control board and walked over to the chart table. 1943J. G. Winant in J. S. Huxley TVA 5 The control board [of the TVA] was ‘authorized and directed to make studies..to promote the use of electric power’.
1909P. Dawson Electric Traction on Railways xi. 315 A cable, usually designated as ‘train control cable’,..runs the entire length of the train. 1916H. Barber Aeroplane Speaks 39 All the control cables in perfect condition and tension.
1905Ashe & Keiley Electric Railways vi. 134 The control circuit is not opened. 1934Webster s.v. transformer, A control-circuit transformer is a voltage transformer used to supply a voltage suitable for the operation of shunt-coil magnetic devices. 1955Gloss. Terms Autom. Digital Computers (B.S.I.) 6 Control circuits, the aggregate of those parts of a computer which effect the acceptance and carrying out of instructions in the desired sequence.
1919W. B. Faraday Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms 68 Control column, on an aeroplane, a lever by means of which the principal controls are worked. It usually controls pitching and rolling. 1927Evening Standard 12 Jan. 6/4 The ‘joy stick’ loses a certain liveliness in the new official term of ‘control column’. 1941B.B.C. Gloss. Broadc. Terms 7 Control cubicle, small room in a studio centre where a programme output is controlled.
1927E. P. Hill Rotary Converters iv. 192 The engineer at the central control desk is warned instantly by a bell. 1962A. Nisbett Technique of Sound Studio 246 At a control desk there are faders.., associated cue systems, echo and distortion controls..and a variety of communications equipment.
1918W. H. Eccles Wireless Telegr. & Teleph. (ed. 2) 294 This electrode..is often called the grid; but it may also be called the control electrode. 1963Economist 28 Dec. 1337/3 ‘Control electrodes’ which permit the cell to be recharged safely at a head-spinning speed.
1937Discovery Nov. 330/2 A second control engineer, for regulating the sound output to its relevant transmitter. 1962Listener 6 Dec. 953/1 A control engineer faced with putting control on a closed loop system, such as a turbine, would predict that the better the control the smaller the irregularity of the machine.
1904A. B. F. Young Compl. Motorist iv. 84 By opening the control levers the speed can be varied from six to forty miles an hour. 1911Control lever [see bumpy a. c]. 1916H. Barber Aeroplane Speaks 28 Sometimes when the Aeroplane is on the ground the control lever or ‘joy-stick’ is lashed fast. 1936Discovery Apr. 113/1 The locomotive responds instantly to a movement of the control levers.
1931S. R. Roget Dict. Electr. Terms (ed. 2) 68/1 Control line (in electric traction), a multiple-cored cable all along a train with multiple unit control connecting the circuit of all the master controllers. 1949Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. LIII. 1015 In this new sport, control-line flying, the model [aeroplane] is tethered to the pilot by fine wires, and by manipulating the wires the control surfaces can be deflected.
1902Encycl. Brit. XXXI. 351/1 A crank and pinion worked by the ‘control mechanism’ [of a field gun] is fitted to the top of the hinge bolt. 1959Times Lit. Suppl. 24 Apr. 245/2 Control mechanisms are perfectly exemplified by the steam governor, and it is curious that so long an interval elapsed between Watt's invention and the recognition of cybernetics as a separate science.
1923F. A. Talbot Moving Pictures (ed. 2) xvi. 234 He has only to follow the ingenious ‘control panel’ set up at a point convenient to the projector. 1926Gloss. Terms Electr. Engin. (B.S.I.) 89 Control panel, an assemblage of one or more slabs carrying switches,..relays or accessory apparatus, for the control of a circuit from a distance. 1957J. Braine Room at Top 24 An electric oven which had a control panel like a bomber's. 1960D. W. Davies in Haley & Scott Analogue & Digital Computers ix. 275 Most punched card machines are controlled by these removable plugboards, which are called control panels.
1927C. W. Olliver A.C. Commutator Motor vii. 206 Each control point becomes a running point. 1959Listener 7 May 784/1 The activities of the East German authorities at the control points.
1956Berkeley & Wainwright Computers ii. 44 The command is entered as information in what is called the control register or program register of the computer. Ibid. 340/1 Control register—Digital computers, the register which stores the current instruction governing the operation of the computer for a cycle. 1962Gloss. Automatic Data Processing (B.S.I.) 81 Sequence control register, control register,..a register from the content of which the address of the next instruction is derived. 1962F. L. Westwater Electronic Computers v. 92 The Control Register holds the program instruction which is to be obeyed. 1964C. Dent Quantity Surv. by Computer iii. 24 When the start button is pressed, the control unit reads the contents of the first address in its memory store and transfers it to a ‘control register’ in the control unit, where it is interpreted as an instruction.
1945H. D. Smyth Gen. Acct. Atomic Energy viii. 85 There are various other holes through the pile for control rods, instruments, etc. 1946Physical Rev. 2nd Ser. LXX. 115 A control rod absorbs neutrons and increases the leakage of neutrons from the pile.
1927Proc. U.S. Naval Inst. Feb. 140/1 The control-room, engine-room, and motor-room were capable of being unwatered if the necessary work could be done inside the boat. 1928G. E. Sterling Radio Man. ix. 379 The control room operator is responsible for the operation of most of the speech input equipment. 1930B.B.C. Year-Bk. 1931 438/2 Control room, the ‘Nerve-centre’ of a broadcasting station. In this room are situated the low-frequency amplifiers and associated apparatus by which the microphone currents are controlled, before they are passed on to the modulation system of the transmitter. 1933Bur. of Standards Jrnl. Research XI. 482 Remote-control junction boxes..provide direct 2-way communication with the landing aircraft as well as interphone communication with the control room. 1934Times 24 Oct. 14/2 Thousands pressed round Scott and Black as they made their way to the control room. 1943J. S. Huxley TVA xi. 89 Ancillary to each powerhouse is a control room and visitors' room.
1909Westm. Gaz. 29 May 10/1 The sighting and directing of the fire will be carried out from the control stations. 1934Times 24 Oct. 14/3 At control stations we usually picked up sandwiches.
1933Discovery July 226/1 When the control stick is pulled right back with the engine shut off, the craft simply descends in a nearly vertical path. 1962D. Slayton in Into Orbit 22 A single control stick which works all three axes at once—yaw, pitch and roll.
1917C. G. Grey All World's Aircraft 8 a, Control, generally the lever or wheel which controls the motions of the aircraft... Also applied to the control surfaces. 1951Engineering 23 Nov. 665/3 Control-surface actuators may be divided into three broad classes.
1905Ashe & Keiley Electric Railways vi. 140 Control switch. Ibid. 158 Elementary diagram AC control system. 1951Good Housek. Home Encycl. 11/1 Control switches should be placed out of children's reach.
1914Chambers's Jrnl. Aug. 541/2 This central control-system..renders acetylene lighting as convenient as electric lighting. 1915E. Austin Single-Phase Electric Railways vi. 203 The original control system.
1920Flight 21 Oct. 1102/2 The new lights consist of electric lamps..automatically controlled from the Central Control Tower. 1933Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XXXVII. 11 The control tower houses, as it were, the eyes and brain of the airport. 1939Archit. Rev. LXXXV. 91 The control tower floor rises to a height of 14 metres. 1964M. McLuhan Understanding Media vii. 65 The artist tends now to move from the ivory tower to the control tower of society.
1955Gloss. Automatic Digital Computers (B.S.I.) 6 Control unit, the aggregate of those parts of a computer which effect the acceptance and carrying out of instructions in the desired sequence.
1913Control wire [see sense 3 d above].
Add:[4.] c. A member of an intelligence organization who personally directs the activities of a spy; a spymaster.
1963‘J. le Carré’ Spy who came in from Cold ii. 19 Control went on: ‘The ethic of our work..is based on a single assumption... We are never going to be aggressors.’ 1975T. Willis Left-Handed Sleeper xiv. 215 ‘Aren't you forgetting the Rumborne woman?’.. ‘She was the contact, not the control. No—it wasn't her’. 1986B. Forbes Endless Game ii. xxv. 250 He sat with his KGB control on the terrace of the Quaddan Hotel, listening with the respect he gave to few as the details of his new assignment were explained.
[5.] control pod.
1972L. M. Harris Introd. Deepwater Floating Drilling Operations xi. 121 The *control pod serves as a lower terminal for the hose bundle and houses the critical moving parts of the subsea hydraulic-control system. 1985Audio Visual Feb. 56/1 The control ‘pod’ of the Galaxy 2 Arena includes channel control, two playbacks, memory, [etc.].
control character Computing, a character that does not represent a printable character but serves to initiate a particular action, e.g. in a peripheral device.
1966C. J. Sippl Computer Dict. & Handbk. (1967) 74/1 *Control character. 1969P. B. Jordain Condensed Computer Encycl. 127 The control character is embedded in the data stream. 1984J. Hilton Choosing & using Your Home Computer vii. 202/1 The ASCII code uses one byte to represent the 94 printable characters, the ‘space’, and a number of control ‘characters’.
control code Computing, a control character or group of control characters.
1970O. Dopping Computers & Data Processing ii. 47 The codes are intended for several different uses... This is the reason for the great number of *control codes. 1985Personal Computer World Feb. 212/1 To operate in the normal-density bit image mode, Epson printers must receive the control codes $1B, $4B.
control key Computing, a key which is held down while another key is depressed, altering the function of the latter.
1978Pract. Computing July–Aug. 43/3 Some of them [sc. keys] serve a dual function when certain *control keys are depressed first. 1984Which Micro? Dec. 75/2 You can choose your own control keys if you wish.
Add:[5.] control algorithm.
1966ISA Jrnl. Sept. 43/1 The basic *control algorithm of a direct digital control (DDC) system. 1984Computerworld 17 Dec. 57/3 The user can create or edit one control algorithm while displaying another.
control centre.
1941Sun (Baltimore) 19 Dec. 14/7 Directors of civilian defense air-raid *control centers will alone be responsible for..alerting..their..districts. 1951A. M. Prentiss Civil Defense in Mod. War xvi. 293 The local civil defense control centers will function as the command posts of local civil defense. 1960Aviation Week 14 Nov. 27/3 Under Army plans, Zeus control centers are to be scattered across the country, with each center controlling a number of missile batteries. 1983Chemical Week 24 Aug. 22/3 The key to high purity..is a computerized control center.
control equipment.
1957Railway Mag. Mar. 159/2 A cubicle containing the majority of the low-tension *control equipment is housed in a van compartment in the motor coach. 1968Electrical Communication XLIII. 329/1 The system uses new ITT miniaturized components, and a large amount of electronics in the control equipment. 1985Discover Aug. 34/1 A tiny microchip-filled box inside the weapon prevents it from firing unless the authorized codes from the President are punched in on control equipment outside.
control structure.
1968Internat. Encycl. Soc. Sci. III. 51 The hard-core noncommissioned officers constituted a cadre of ‘opinion leaders’ who supported the *control structure. 1973C. W. Gear Introd. Computer Sci. i. 5 The first element of a problem is the control structure. 1983Dict. Computing 78/2 Control structure, a syntactic form in a language, used to specify flow of control in a program, e.g. repeat 〈statements〉 until 〈condition〉.
control engineering, the study and design of control systems.
1954(title of periodical) *Control engineering. 1958Times Rev. Industry June 9/2 The Engineering Faculty of McGill University is to institute a chair in Control Engineering. 1981Acad. Amer. Encycl. XI. 174/1 It [sc. information theory] has strong associations with control engineering, theories of learning, and the physiology of the nervous system.
control theory, the quantitative study of control systems.
[1948N. Wiener Cybernetics 19 We have decided to call the entire field of control and communication theory, whether in the machine or in the animal, by the name Cybernetics.] 1962Listener 6 Dec. 953/1 Economists are now starting to study seriously the implications of *control theory for their problems. 1974Encycl. Brit. Micropædia III. 117/2 Control theory has applications in the physical and life sciences, in technology and economics, and in any area in which the system under consideration can well be described in quantitative terms. 1978Nature 28 Sept. 347/3 We can understand and predict the hunting behaviour of a system incorporating negative feedback only in terms of control theory and not in terms of previously existing physical concepts.
▸ control freak n. orig. U.S. a person who demonstrates a need to exercise tight control over his or her surroundings, behaviour, or appearance, esp. by assuming command of any situation or exerting authority over others; cf. freak n.1 4d.
1977M. Herr Dispatches 13, I got to hate surprises, *control freak at the crossroads..one of those people who always..had to know what was coming next. 1985Adweek (Nexis) 25 Mar. The opportunity to surround himself with the people he wanted was what promoted Hagmann to form his own company. ‘Not that I'm a control freak,’ he says. ‘But I had observed it was better when you had a company where you called the shots.’ 1997Independent 7 June (Long Weekend section) 3/5 It's hard to reconcile the control-freak in his nature with the hyper-adrenalinated kid in front of the camera.
▪ II. control, v.|kənˈtrəʊl|
Forms: 5–6 controlle, 6 controule, -trowll, 6–7 trowl(e, -trole, 7 (controal), 6–8 controll, 6–9 controul, 6– control; also 5–8 comptrol(l. pa. tense and pple. controlled; also 6 -troulde, 6–7 trold(e.
[a. F. contrôler (16th c. in Littré), earlier contreroller (c 1300 in Anglo-Fr.) ‘to take and keepe a copie of a roll of accounts, to controll, obserue, ouersee, spie faults in’ (Cotgr.), f. F. contrerolle (now contrôle): see control n. Both in vb. and n. the spelling controul was almost universal in 18th c. and early part of 19th, and is still occasional.]
1. trans. To check or verify, and hence to regulate (payments, receipts, or accounts generally): orig. by comparison with a ‘counter-roll’ or duplicate register; now in the wider sense of 4.
[c1310MS. Cott. Tib. E viij lf. 49 (Househ. Ord. Edw. II) Un contrerollour qui doit contre roller au tresorere de la garderobe toutz lez receitez.] c1475Househ. Ord. 59 To controlle the receytes & all the yssues of the Thesaurers office. 1515Barclay Egloges iii. (1570) C ij/4 Or some busy body..Comptroll their countes be they neuer so right. 1539Househ. Ord. in Thynne Animadv. Introd. (1865) 35 To controule the same [expenditure], giveing noe larger allowance than there ought to be. 1549[see 4 b.]. 1709Strype Ann. Ref. Introd. iii. 24 And to comptroll his books from time to time.
2. transf. To check by comparison, and test the accuracy of (statements, stories, or their authors). arch.
1532More Confut. Tindale Wks. 726/2 He shalbe sure seldome to meete anye manne that hath bee there, by whome hys tale might be controlled. 1612Davies Why Ireland, etc. 41 Which by mine own search and view of the Records heere I can justly controll. 1639Fuller Holy War iv. vi. (1840) 186 Afterwards this report was controlled to be false. 1878J. C. Morison Gibbon 1 Anyone who wishes to control my statements will have no difficulty in doing so.
†3. Hence:
a. To take to task, call to account, rebuke, reprove (a person). Const. of, for. Obs.
a1529Skelton Ware the Hawke 96 Whereof I hym controlde. 1612Shelton Quix. I. Pref. 9 To be controaled for the Evil, or rewarded for the Good. 1692Dryden Cleomenes Prol., Control these foplings and declare for sense.
†b. To challenge, find fault with, censure, reprehend, object to (a thing). Obs.
a1529Skelton Agst. Venom. Tongues Wks. I. 133 That I would Controlle the cognisaunce of noble men. 1567Turberv. Ovid's Epist. 143 How oft did I controll the sluggish oares. 1582N. T. (Rhem.) Luke i. 78 note, Maruel not if Heretikes controule the old authentical translation. 1623Lisle ælfric on O. & N.T. Pref. ⁋1, I put not out anything rashly in print..especially in this age so ready to controll. 1713S. Ockley Acc. Barbary 80 The Women..never dare Controul or Dispute their Husbands Commands. 1738Swift Polite Conv. p. xxii, An Argument not to be controlled.
4. To exercise restraint or direction upon the free action of; to hold sway over, exercise power or authority over; to dominate, command.
1495Act 11 Hen. VII, c. 22 §6 Any persone assigned to comptroll and oversee theym in their werking. 1604Shakes. Oth. v. ii. 265 But (oh vaine boast) Who can controll his Fate? 1692E. Walker Epictetus' Mor. lxx, But the Philosophers exalted Soul No little outward Trifles can controul. 1725Pope Odyss. xi. 456 Thy words like music every breast controul. 1809N. Pinkney Trav. France 184 Castles..built with the evident purpose of controuling..the navigation. 1857Buckle Civiliz. I. iv. 196 Such is the way in which great thinkers control the affairs of men.
absol.1709Prior Merry Andrew 27 Henceforth may I obey, and thou control. 1844H. H. Wilson Brit. India III. 400 A Resident, with power to advise and control.
b. To hold in check, curb, restrain from action; to hinder, prevent (? obs.).
1549Latimer Ploughers (Arb.) 27 Who comptrolleth the deuyll at home at his parishe, whyle he [the prelate] comptrolleth the mynte? 1593Drayton Eclogues iv. 96 Felt the stiffe curbe controule his angrie Jawes. 1602Warner Alb. Eng. x. lx. (1612) 266 Through God that drift she chiefly hath controld. 1727–38Gay Fables i. xxxviii. 29 Controul thy more voracious bill. 1854Brewster More Worlds i. 16 The superabundance of life is controlled by the law of mutual destruction.
c. refl. To hold in check or repress one's passions or emotions; so to control one's feelings, tears, etc.
1818Shelley Laon Ded. iv. 8, I then controuled My tears. 1855Kingsley Heroes ii. 231 He [Theseus] controlled himself. 1856Sir B. Brodie Psychol. Inq. I. iii. 99 Difficulty in controlling his temper. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 36 Good men are those who are able to control themselves. 1883Froude Short Stud. IV. i. xii. 146 [He] could not control his emotion at the loss of his men.
†5. To overpower, overmaster. Obs.
1593Shakes. Lucr. 678 Till with her own white fleece her voice controlled Entombs her outcry. c1600― Sonn. xx, A man in hew all Hews in his controwling. 1610― Temp. i. ii. 373 His Art is of such pow'r, It would controll my Dams god Setebos. 1755Johnson s.v., He controlled all the evidence of his adversary.
b. Law. To overrule (a judgement or sentence).
1724Swift Drapier's Lett. Wks. 1755 V. ii. 122 Sir John Holt's opinion..I doubt in practice..hath been frequently controlled. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) VI. 372 The super⁓added words of limitation may be admitted to controul the preceding words. 1863H. Cox Instit. i. iv. 19 Though the preamble may assist in construing ambiguous expressions in a statute, it will not be allowed to control clear ones.
c. Fencing. to control the point: ‘to bear or beat it down’ (Gifford in loco).
1598B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. i. v, I will learne you, by the true iudgement of the eye, hand, and foot, to controll any enemies point i' the world. Ibid. iv. v. |