Word: control Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English controllen, from Old French contrerole, from Medieval Latin contrārotulus (“a counter-roll or register used to verify accounts”), from Latin contrā (“against, opposite”) + Medieval Latin rotulus, Latin rotula (“roll, a little wheel”), diminutive of rota (“a wheel”). Partly displaced native Old English wealdan and Old English wieldan, whence their merged reflex English wield. Pronunciation: /kənˈtɹəʊl/, [kənˈtɹɒʊl], /kənˈtɹɒl/, /kənˈtɹoʊl/, /kənˈtɹəʉl/ 1. An influence or authority over something. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The government has complete control over the situation. 2. The method and means of governing the performance of any apparatus, machine or system, such as a lever, handle or button. Labels: countable, uncountable 3. Restraint or ability to contain one's movements or emotions, or self-control. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: She had no control of her body as she tumbled downhill. She did not know up from down. It was not unlike being cartwheeled in a relentlessly crashing wave. Example: The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you[…] "share the things you love with the world" and so on. But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention. 4. A security mechanism, policy, or procedure that can counter system attack, reduce risks, and resolve vulnerabilities; a safeguard or countermeasure. Labels: countable, uncountable 5. A means of monitoring for, and triggering intervention in, activities that are not going according to plan. Labels: countable, uncountable 6. A control group or control experiment. Labels: countable, uncountable 7. A duplicate book, register, or account, kept to correct or check another account or register. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: “The entries in the control accounts reflect respectively the effect of the transactions on the value of Korrinna company’s receivables (sales ledger control account) and payables (purchase ledger control account.” Example: "Make sure you enter the total of any credit balances in the sales ledger into the Sales Ledger Control Account and the total of any debit balances in the purchase ledger into the Purchase Ledger Control Account." 8. An interface element that a computer user interacts with, such as a window or a text box. Labels: countable, uncountable 9. Any of the physical factors determining the climate of a place, such as latitude, distribution of land and water, altitude, exposure, prevailing winds, permanent high- or low-barometric-pressure areas, ocean currents, mountain barriers, soil, and vegetation. Labels: countable, uncountable 10. A construction in which the understood subject of a given predicate is determined by an expression in context. See control. Labels: countable, uncountable 11. A spirit that takes possession of a psychic or medium and allows other spirits to communicate with the living. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: "Ah, who are they? I wonder. Guides, controls, psychic entities of some kind. Who the agents of vengeance - or I should say justice - are, is really not essential." 12. A checkpoint along an audax route. Labels: countable Example: […] the self-acknowledged stereotype of the audaxer as a socially awkward middle-aged man, […] carefully avoiding eye contact as a volunteer serves him his cup of tea and plate of baked beans in one of the draughty village halls that typically host audax controls.