How to Use control in a Sentence

control

1 of 2 verb
  • The police controlled the crowd.
  • The small boy could not control the big dog.
  • The parents could not control their child.
  • The rebel army now controls nearly half the country.
  • She struggled to control the cart as it rolled before her down the steep, bumpy road.
  • The lights on stage are controlled by this computer.
  • He controlled the volume by turning the radio's knob.
  • One country controls the whole island.
  • Her family controls the business.
  • A thermostat controls the room's temperature.
  • Xavier wants to be the tougher team and control the space around the basket.
    Adam Baum, Cincinnati.com, 28 Dec. 2019
  • The best way to control the insect is in the crawler stage when the scale first hatch.
    oregonlive, 27 Mar. 2022
  • Joe Haden could not control the ball on his way to the ground.
    Childs Walker, baltimoresun.com, 2 Nov. 2020
  • Preet, one thing this judge could control is the timing of the case.
    ABC News, 11 June 2023
  • The Browns used their run game to control the game and ran out the clock in the fourth quarter.
    Charlie Goldsmith, The Enquirer, 3 Nov. 2021
  • Cincinnati controlled large swaths of the field in the second half.
    Pat Brennan, Cincinnati.com, 14 Sep. 2019
  • The founders control roughly 35% of its shares and sit on its board.
    Cara Lombardo, WSJ, 14 July 2021
  • This way, teams control who else can join their group on the app.
    Dallas News, 20 July 2021
  • There are ways to control who can (and can’t) see you on Snap Map.
    Haley Samsel, USA TODAY College, 21 June 2017
  • That could damage the blades and the devices that control them, or throw a blade.
    Popular Mechanics Editors, Popular Mechanics, 20 June 2018
  • The long and short of it is that this country has failed badly to control the spread of the virus.
    Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes, 19 Sep. 2021
  • The thing that keeps me coming back is the dial that controls it all.
    Brent Rose, The Verge, 20 Nov. 2018
  • What about the people who control which voices get heard in the first place?
    Annabel Gutterman, Time, 12 May 2021
  • The best of the best even seem capable of controlling time.
    Kurt Streeter, New York Times, 6 June 2023
  • His sisters have used them to control him and steal his food.
    Kaitlyn Bancroft, The Salt Lake Tribune, 9 Oct. 2021
  • Aaron was thick, stocky and not able to fully control his body.
    Tyler Tachman, The Indianapolis Star, 21 Sep. 2022
  • The Senate could save a woman’s right to control her own body.
    Los Angeles Times, 11 May 2022
  • Thompson, a junior point guard, controlled play on both ends of the floor.
    David Woods, Indianapolis Star, 7 Dec. 2019
  • To help control them, keep debris away from the flower bed and don’t let the soil get too wet.
    oregonlive, 5 Apr. 2021
  • How does this not take away a woman's right to control her own body?
    NBC News, 8 May 2022
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control

2 of 2 noun
  • The soccer player showed good control of the ball.
  • He took control of the family farm.
  • The tribes fought for control over the territory.
  • He lost all muscle control in his left arm.
  • The farmer used an organic pest control on his crops.
  • She hired an accountant to take control of her money.
  • To cut down on competition, the government passed price controls on prescription drugs.
  • The city wanted local control of education.
  • The President wants stricter controls on immigration.
  • In fact, the end of the movie is about the fight for control of the Oasis.
    Kevin Krewell, Forbes, 27 Jan. 2022
  • By that point, though, the Tigers were in control, 4-2.
    Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press, 11 Sep. 2022
  • By the time the air tankers arrived the next day, the blaze was out of control.
    Tom Stienstra, SFChronicle.com, 4 July 2019
  • Drunk Elephant puts the control in the hands of the customer.
    Madison Yauger, Peoplemag, 30 Sep. 2022
  • Half of the train rolled out of control away from the other half.
    Dan Schwartz, Fortune, 7 Apr. 2023
  • The fire crews took over an hour to gain control of the flames, James said.
    Jane Florance, The Arizona Republic, 10 Mar. 2022
  • The Saints don't want to lose Williams, but that might be out of their control.
    Amie Just | Staff Writer, NOLA.com, 20 Jan. 2021
  • And with that speed, with that control, and making the right plays?
    Conor Ryan, BostonGlobe.com, 24 Apr. 2023
  • The control remained mold-less, while the piece touched with clean hands appeared the same.
    Fox News, 18 Dec. 2019
  • Pat Robertson in the control room for his 700 Club TV show.
    Daniel Arkin, NBC News, 8 June 2023
  • Hand pulling or digging seedlings is the best method of control.
    Melinda Myers, Journal Sentinel, 12 Jan. 2024
  • There is a lot at play when discussing the control of oil prices.
    Q.ai - Powering A Personal Wealth Movement, Forbes, 5 Oct. 2022
  • The scandal forced him to abandon a bid to take control of Sky.
    Oliver Darcy, CNN, 21 Sep. 2023
  • It might be said that the party would lose control of its brand.
    Joseph O’Neill, The New York Review of Books, 29 Apr. 2020
  • The Zags went on an 18-2 run to take complete control of the game in the second half.
    Shreyas Laddha, Kansas City Star, 23 Mar. 2024
  • It is not known which pilot was in control of the aircraft at the time of the deadly crash.
    Liz Friden, Fox News, 15 Aug. 2022
  • The team sprayed a third group of trees with distilled water as a control.
    Katie Camero, Science | AAAS, 5 Aug. 2019
  • Those are the types of aspects a point guard can — and needs — to help get into control.
    Tyler Tachman, The Indianapolis Star, 18 Dec. 2022
  • Still the project would remain under the city’s control.
    Brian Maffly, The Salt Lake Tribune, 16 May 2022
  • Their lives spiraled out of control, through hell and back.
    oregonlive.com, 5 July 2019
  • The second half was a battle for control of the midfield.
    Bay Area News Group, The Mercury News, 11 Sep. 2019

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'control.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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