VocabauraVOCABAURA

control

verb · noun

Simple meaning

To exercise influence over.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

kuhntrohl

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

kəntˈɹoʊl

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. transitive

    To exercise influence over; to suggest or dictate the behavior of.

  2. transitive

    To hold in check, to curb, to restrain.

noun

  1. Restraint or ability to contain one's movements or emotions, or self-control.

  2. countableuncountable

    An influence or authority over something.

  3. The method and means of governing the performance of any apparatus, machine or system, such as a lever, handle or button.

  4. A security mechanism, policy, or procedure that can counter system attack, reduce risks, and resolve vulnerabilities; a safeguard or countermeasure.

  5. A duplicate book, register, or account, kept to correct or check another account or register.

  6. The activity of managing or exerting control over something

    “The control of the mob by the police was admirable.”

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A1 · Beginner
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To exercise influence over; to suggest or dictate the behavior of.

Used this way, control is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use control

  • “With a simple remote, he could control the toy truck.”verb
  • “The government has complete control over the situation.”noun

Share your sentence

Write your own example sentence using “control”. We review each one before it appears.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

quality controlbirth controlcontrol systemcontrol grouparms controlcontrol panelpollution controldisease control

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • controlledadjectiveInflected form

    Restrained or managed or kept within certain bounds.

  • controllernounInflected form

    Someone who maintains and audits business accounts.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • control characternounCompound term

    ASCII characters to indicate carriage return or tab or backspace.

  • control circuitnounCompound term

    A feedback circuit that subtracts from the input.

  • control conditionnounCompound term

    A standard against which other conditions can be compared in a scientific experiment.

  • control experimentnounCompound term

    An experiment designed to control for variables affecting the results of another experiment.

  • control freaknounCompound term

    Someone with a compulsive desire to exert control over situations and people.

  • control functionnounCompound term

    An operation that controls the recording or processing or transmission of interpretation of data.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

verb

Sense: to exercise influence over

commandmanipulate

noun

Sense: restraint or ability to contain one's movements or emotions

holdcommandmastercheckrestraintascendancyascendency

Use This Word

See how this word sounds in a real sentence.

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Knowing “control” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.

Know the meaning? Practice using it in a real situation, free, no credits.

Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.