control

noun

OPAL WOPAL S

/kənˈtrəʊl/

Idioms

jump to other results

power

[uncountable] the power to make decisions about how a country, an area, an organization, etc. is run

control of somebody/something The party expects to gain control of the council in the next election.
Militants have taken control of the town.
The Democrats have lost control of Congress.
A military junta seized control of the country.
The founders eventually regained control of the company.
control over somebody/something He defended the tradition of civilian control over the military.
in the control of somebody/something The city is in the control of enemy forces.
under… control The area remains under international control.

Extra Examples

Editors do not exercise control over large sections of their newspapers.
Enemy forces have now regained control of the area.
He wants to hand over control of social security to the private sector.
Parking is outside my control.
The department was under the control of Bryce Thompson.
The idea is to give councils full control of their own budgets.
They have little control over that side of the business.
attempts to wrest control of the town from government forces
government plans to centralize control of schools
The family has sold most of its shares and will lose control of the company.
The city is under enemy control.

Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective

absolute
complete
full
…

verb + control

have
achieve
assert
…

control + noun

freak

preposition

beyond your control
outside your control
in control (of)
…

phrases

circumstances beyond somebody’s control

See full entry

[uncountable] the ability to make somebody/something do what you want

control over somebody/something The teacher had no control over the children.
He fought hard to retain control over his work.
control of something She struggled to keep control of her voice.
She lost control of her car on the ice.
He got so angry he lost control (= shouted and said or did things he would not normally do).
beyond/outside somebody's control Owing to circumstances beyond our control, the flight to Rome has been cancelled.
under control The situation is under control.
The coach made the team work hard on ball control (= in a ball game).

limiting/managing

[uncountable, countable] (often in compounds) the act of limiting or managing something; a method of doing this

traffic control
talks on arms control
controls on something tight controls on government spending
Price controls on food were ended.
control of something exciting advances in the control of malaria
state control of the economy
It was an exercise in damage control (= trying to prevent further damage).
A pest control officer was called in to deal with the rat problem.

see also birth control, climate control, gun control, parental control, quality control

Synonyms limitlimit

restriction
control
constraint
restraint
limitation

These are all words for something that limits what you can do or what can happen.

limit
the greatest or smallest amount of something that is allowed:
- The EU has set strict limits on pollution levels.
- the speed limit
restriction
(rather formal) a rule or law that limits what you can do:
- There are no restrictions on the amount of money you can withdraw.
control
(often in compounds) the act of limiting or managing something; a method of doing this:
- arms control
constraint
(rather formal) a fact or decision that limits what you can do:
- We have to work within severe constraints of time and money.
restraint
(rather formal) a decision, a rule, an idea, etc. that limits what you can do; the act of limiting something because it is necessary or sensible to do so:
- The government has imposed export restraints on some products.
- The unions are unlikely to accept any sort of wage restraint.
limitation
the act or process of limiting something; a rule, fact or condition that limits something:
- They would resist any limitation of their powers.

restriction, constraint, restraint or limitation?These are all things that limit what you can do. A restriction is rule or law that is made by somebody in authority. A constraint is something that exists rather than something that is made, although it may exist as a result of somebody’s decision. A restraint is also something that exists: it can exist outside yourself, as the result of somebody else’s decision; but it can also exist inside you, as a fear of what other people may think or as your own feeling about what is acceptable: moral/social/cultural restraints. A limitation is more general and can be a rule that somebody makes or a fact or condition that exists.Patterns

limits/restrictions/controls/constraints/restraints/limitations on something
limits/limitations to something
severe limits/restrictions/controls/constraints/restraints/limitations
tight limits/restrictions/controls/constraints
to impose/remove limits/restrictions/controls/constraints/restraints/limitations
to lift restrictions/controls/constraints/restraints

Extra Examples

calls for tougher export controls
Many teenagers have poor impulse control.
plans to relax price controls
the water pressure control valve
They have introduced controls on public spending.
The government has imposed strict controls on new building.
The country has tightened its border controls.
New crime control measures have failed.
The police are experts in crowd control.
A new advance has been made in the control of malaria.
government controls on trade and industry

Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective

strict
stringent
tight
…

verb + control

implement
impose
introduce
…

preposition

control on

See full entry

in machine

[countable, usually plural] the switches and buttons, etc. that you use to operate a machine or a vehicle

the controls of an aircraft
the control panel
the volume control of a TV
at the controls The co-pilot was at the controls when the plane landed.

see also cruise control, dual controls, remote control

Extra Examples

Chief Air Officer Sedley was at the controls of the Boeing 707.
Once we were in the air, I was allowed to take the controls.
a programmable control unit

Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective

remote
volume
cruise
…

verb + control

take

control + noun

panel
device
stick
…

preposition

at the controls

See full entry

in experiment

[countable] (specialist) a person, thing or group used as a standard of comparison for checking the results of a scientific experiment; an experiment whose result is known, used for checking working methods

The study showed that women with the disease have had fewer children than the controls.
One group was treated with the new drug, and the control group was given a sugar pill.

Topics Scientific researchc1

place

[singular] a place where orders are given or where checks are made; the people who work in this place

We went through passport control and into the departure lounge.

see also air traffic control, ground control, Mission Control

on computer

[uncountable]

(also control key [singular])

(on a computer keyboard) a key that you press when you want to perform a particular operation

Wordfinder

backspace
click
control
cursor
escape
keyboard
return
shift
slash
space bar

Topics Computersc1

Word Originlate 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.

Idioms

be in control (of something)

to direct or manage an organization, an area or a situation
- He's reached retiring age, but he's still firmly in control.
- There has been some violence after the match, but the police are now in control of the situation.
- The elected government is back in control.
to be able to organize your life well and keep calm
- In spite of all her family problems, she's really in control.

be/get/run/etc. out of control

to be or become impossible to manage or to control
- The children are completely out of control since their father left.
- A truck ran out of control on the hill.
Extra Examples
- The car went out of control on the icy road.
- I had this feeling that things were out of control.

be under control

to be being dealt with successfully
- Don't worry—everything's under control!

bring/get/keep something under control

to succeed in dealing with something so that it does not cause any damage or hurt anyone
- It took two hours to bring the fire under control.
- Please keep your dog under control!
Extra Examples
- They soon got the situation under control.
- Weeds should be kept under strict control.

control

verb

OPAL WOPAL S

/kənˈtrəʊl/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they control	/kənˈtrəʊl/ /kənˈtrəʊl/
he / she / it controls	/kənˈtrəʊlz/ /kənˈtrəʊlz/
past simple controlled	/kənˈtrəʊld/ /kənˈtrəʊld/
past participle controlled	/kənˈtrəʊld/ /kənˈtrəʊld/
-ing form controlling	/kənˈtrəʊlɪŋ/ /kənˈtrəʊlɪŋ/

jump to other results

have power

control somebody/something to have power over a person, company, country, etc. so that you are able to decide what they must do or how it is run

By the age of 21 he controlled the company.
The whole territory is now controlled by the army.
Can't you control your children?
a multinational company based in Britain but controlled from South Africa
We want to control our own destiny (= decide what happens to us).
attempts by corporations to control access to information

Extra Examples

Each school is controlled by a Board of Governors.
Government forces have proved incapable of controlling the rebels.
It is a multi-national company based in Britain but controlled from South Africa.
Mounted police had been called to control the crowds.
The National Bank is directly controlled by the government.
The clubs were found guilty of failing to control their fans.

limit/manage

to limit something or make it happen in a particular way

control something It is essential for businesses to control costs.
government attempts to control immigration
Local industries were tightly controlled.
Many biological processes are controlled by hormones.
Try to control your breathing.
They built a reservoir to control the flow of water.
control what/how, etc… Parents should control what their kids watch on television.

Extra Examples

Conditions in the greenhouse are carefully controlled.
Expenditure within the company is tightly controlled.
The government has announced new measures to control immigration
This government has failed to control inflation.
Time out is an effective way of controlling aggressive behaviour.
In many countries the production of the drug is illegal or tightly controlled.

Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb

carefully
precisely
rigidly
…

See full entry

to stop something from spreading or getting worse

control something Firefighters are still trying to control the blaze.
to control a disease
She was given drugs to control the pain.
control something with something Most of the symptoms can be controlled with medication.

Extra Examples

Symptoms can be controlled in most patients.
His diabetes can be controlled by diet.
He had an emergency operation in which surgeons attempted to control the bleeding.

Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb

carefully
precisely
rigidly
…

See full entry

machine

to make something such as a machine or system work in the way that you want it to

control something This knob controls the volume.
The traffic lights are controlled by a central computer.
The entrance gates are electronically controlled.
control something with something lighting that you can control with your smartphone
control something via something The thermostat can be controlled via an app.
control something from something toys that can be controlled from your mobile device

Extra Examples

The shutters can be electronically controlled.
You can easily control the speed of the fan.

Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb

automatically
electronically
manually
…

See full entry

stay calm

to manage to make yourself remain calm, even though you are upset or angry

control yourself I was so angry I couldn't control myself.
control something He was finding it difficult to control his feelings.
You can learn to control your emotions.

Extra Examples

She was struggling to control her temper.
The clerk could scarcely control his excitement.
He was finding it hard to control his feelings.
I was so furious I couldn't control myself and I hit him.

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