check
/t͡ʃɛk/ noun, verb, interjection, adjective, proper noun
Also a form of chick
Forms checks checking checked checkest checkedst checketh
- noun An inspection or examination. “I don't know if she will be there, but it's worth a check.”
- noun A control; a limit or stop. “checks and balances”
- noun (chess) A situation in which the king is directly threatened by an opposing piece.
- noun (US) A mark (especially a checkmark: ✓) used as an indicator.
- noun (US) An order to a bank to pay money to a named person or entity. “I was not carrying cash, so I wrote a check for the amount.”
- noun (US) A bill, particularly in a restaurant. “I summoned the waiter, paid the check, and hurried to leave.”
- noun (contact sports) A maneuver performed by a player to take another player out of the play. “The hockey player gave a good hard check to obtain the puck.”
- noun A token used instead of cash in various contexts, including sign-out of company property or collection of rations (dated), in gaming machines, or in gambling generally. “a brass check”
- verb (transitive) To inspect; to examine. “Check the oil in your car once a month.”
- verb (transitive) To verify the accuracy of a text or translation, usually making some corrections (proofread) or many (copyedit).
- verb (transitive, US, often used with “off”) To mark items on a list (with a checkmark or by crossing them out) that have been chosen for keeping or removal or that have been dealt with (for example, completed or verified as correct or satisfactory). “Check the items on the list that interest you.”
- verb (transitive) To control, limit, or halt. “Check your enthusiasm during a negotiation.”
- verb (informal, transitive) To scold or rebuke someone.
- verb (transitive) To verify or compare with a source of information. “Check your data against known values.”
- verb (transitive) To leave in safekeeping. “Check your hat and coat at the door.”
- verb (transitive) To leave with a shipping agent for shipping. “Check your bags at the ticket counter before the flight.”
- interjection An expression showing that a requirement has been satisfied. “Keys? Check. Batteries? Check. We are all ready to go!”
- interjection An expression that indicates that the speaker wishes to pay the bill (e.g. in a restaurant).
- noun (textiles, chiefly in the plural) A pattern made up of a grid of squares of alternating colors; a checkered pattern. “The tablecloth had red and white checks.”
- noun Any fabric woven with such a pattern.
Synonyms
tick checkmark cheque check off tick off cross off strike off curtail restrain behedge guard govern smother bind chasten choke back inhibit catch contain vanquish bank check assay chit tab arrest halt hitch stay stop stoppage
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English chek, chekke, borrowed from Old French eschec, eschek, eschac, from Medieval Latin scaccus, borrowed from Arabic شَاه (šāh, “king or check at chess, shah”), borrowed from Classical Persian شَاه (šāh, “king”), from Middle Persian 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠 (mlkʾ /šāh/), from Old Persian 𐏋 (XŠ /xšāyaθiya/, “king”), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *kšáyati (“he rules, he has power over”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tek- (“to gain power over, gain control over”).
Compare Saterland Frisian Schak, Schach, Dutch schaak, German Schach, Danish skak, Swedish schack, Icelandic skák, French échec, Italian scacco. Doublet of chess and shah (“king of Persia or Iran”), from the same source, as well as thig, which derives from the Germanic cognate.
All of the English senses developed from the chess sense.
From Middle English chekken, partly from Old French eschequier and partly from the noun (see above).
By shortening from chequer, from Old French eschequier (“chessboard”), from Medieval Latin scaccarium, ultimately from the same Persian root as above.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A word of warning denoting that the king is in danger; such a menace of a player's king by an adversary's move as would, if it were any other piece, expose it to immediate capture. A king so menaced is said to be in check, and must be made safe at the next move.
- noun A condition of interrupted or impeded progress; arrest; stop; delay; as, to hold an enemy in check.
- verb To make a move which puts an adversary's piece, esp. his king, in check; to put in check.
- verb To put a sudden restraint upon; to stop temporarily; to hinder; to repress; to curb.
Etymology [OE. chek, OF. eschec, F. échec, a stop, hindrance, orig. check in the game of chess, pl. échecs chess, through AR., fr. Pers. shah king. See Shah, and cf. Checkmate, Chess, Checker.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “check”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details