POWER [U] › the power to make a person, organization, or object do what you want: The new teacher has no control over the class. The police are in control of the situation. The place was in chaos, and nobody seemed to be in control. He lost control of the vehicle. RULE [U] › the power to rule or govern an area: Soldiers took control of the airport. under control › being dealt with successfully: Don't worry - everything's under control. I couldn't keep my drinking under control.
out of control › If something or someone is out of control, you cannot influence, limit, or direct them: The mob was completely out of control.
RULE [C, U] › a rule or law that limits something: The government has introduced tighter immigration controls. CALM [U] › the ability to be calm: It took a lot of control to stop myself hitting him. EQUIPMENT [C] › a switch or piece of equipment that you use to operate a machine or vehicle: Where's the volume control on your stereo? OFFICIAL PLACE [C, U] › a place where something official, usually a document, is checked: passport/immigration control IN EXPERIMENT › a person or thing that is used to compare with someone or something that is having an experiment done on them → See also birth control → See also remote control → See also self-control