control

Universal Words noun, verb noun power 1 [U] ~ (of / over sb/sth) the power to make decisions about how a country, an area, an organization, etc. is run: The party is expecting to gain control of the council in the next election. * The Democrats will probably lose control of Congress. * A military junta took control of the country. * The city is in the control of enemy forces. * The city is under enemy control. * The family has sold most of its shares and will lose control of the company. 2 [U] ~ (of / over sb/sth) the ability to make sb/sth do what you want: The teacher had no control over the children. * 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). * Owing to circumstances beyond our control, the flight to Rome has been cancelled. * The coach made the team work hard on ball control (= in a sport such as football). seealsoSELF-CONTROL limiting / managing 3 [U,C] ~ (of / on sth) (often in compounds) the act of restricting, limiting or managing sth; a method of doing this: traffic control * talks on arms control * government controls on trade and industry * A new advance has been made in the control of malaria. * Price controls on food were ended. * a pest control officer seealsoBIRTHCONTROL, QUALITYCONTROL in machine 4 [C,usually pl.] 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 CD player * The co-pilot was at the controls when the plane landed. * a car with dual control(s) (= one set of controls for the driver and one for the instructor). seealsoREMOTECONTROL in experiment 5 [C] (technical) 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: One group was treated with the new drug, and the control group was given a sugar pill. * The study showed that women with the disease have had fewer children than normal controls. place 6 [sing.] a place where orders are given or where checks are made; the people who work in this place: air traffic control * We went through passport control and into the departure lounge. * This is Mission Control calling the space shuttle Discovery. on computer 7 [U] (also control key [sing.]) (on a computer keyboard) a key that you press when you want to perform a particular operation IDIOMS be in control (of sth) 1 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. 2 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. be under control to be being dealt with successfully: Don't worry-everything's under control! bring / get / keep sth under control to succeed in dealing with sth so that it does not cause any harm: It took two hours to bring the fire under control. * Please keep your dog under control! verb (-ll-) have power 1 [VN] 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 multi-national company based in Britain but controlled from South Africa limit / manage 2 to limit sth or make it happen in a particular way: [VN] government attempts to control immigration * Many biological processes are controlled by hormones. * Try to control your breathing. * [Vwh-] Parents should control what their kids watch on television. 3 [VN] to stop sth from spreading or getting worse: Firefighters are still trying to control the blaze. * She was given drugs to control the pain. machine 4 [VN] to make sth, such as a machine or system, work in the way that you want it to: This knob controls the volume. * The traffic lights are controlled by a central computer. stay calm 5 [VN] to manage to make yourself remain calm, even though you are upset or angry: I was so furious I couldn't control myself and I hit him. * He was finding it difficult to control his feelings.