check
pronunciation
How to pronounce check in British English:
UK [tʃek]
How to pronounce check in American English:
US [tʃek]
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- Noun:
- a written order directing a bank to pay money
- an appraisal of the state of affairs
- the bill in a restaurant
- the state of inactivity following an interruption
- additional proof that something that was believed (some fact or hypothesis or theory) is correct
- the act of inspecting or verifying
- a mark indicating that something has been noted or completed etc.
- something immaterial that interferes with or delays action or progress
- a mark left after a small piece has been chopped or broken off of something
- a textile pattern of squares or crossed lines (resembling a checkerboard)
- the act of restraining power or action or limiting excess
- obstructing an opponent in ice hockey
- (chess) a direct attack on an opponent's king
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- Verb:
- examine so as to determine accuracy, quality, or condition
- make an examination or investigation
- be careful or certain to do something; make certain of something
- lessen the intensity of; temper; hold in restraint; hold or keep within limits
- stop for a moment, as if out of uncertainty or caution
- put a check mark on or next to
- slow the growth or development of
- be verified or confirmed; pass inspection
- be compatible, similar or consistent; coincide in their characteristics
- block or impede (a player from the opposing team) in ice hockey
- train by instruction and practice; especially to teach self-control
- consign for shipment on a vehicle
- hand over something to somebody as for temporary safekeeping
- abandon the intended prey, turn, and pursue an inferior prey, of falcons
- stop in a chase especially when scent is lost
- mark into squares or draw squares on; draw crossed lines on
- decline to initiate betting
- hold back, as of a danger or an enemy; check the expansion or influence of
- place into check
- write out a check on a bank account
- find out, learn, or determine with certainty, usually by making an inquiry or other effort
- verify by consulting a source or authority
- arrest the motion (of something) abruptly
- make cracks or chinks in
- become fractured; break or crack on the surface only
Word Origin
- check
- check: There are two distinct words check in English, although by very involved pathways they are related. Check ‘verify’ [14] is originally a chess term meaning ‘threaten the king’. It comes from Old French eschequier, a derivative of the noun eschec (source also of English chess), which goes back via Vulgar Latin *scaccus and Arabic shāh to Persian shāh ‘king’ (whence also, of course, English shah). (Checkmate [14] comes via Old French eschec mat from Persian shāh māt ‘the king is left helpless’; the second element turns up again in mat or matt ‘lustreless’.) From the very specific chess sense there developed more general applications such as ‘attack’, ‘arrest’, ‘stop’, ‘restrict’, and ‘verify’.Among these in the 18th century was ‘token used as a counterfoil for verifying something, such as an amount’. As check this survives mainly in American English (as in ‘hat-check’), but in the specific financial sense of ‘written money order’ it was transformed in British English into cheque, perhaps under the influence of exchequer. Check ‘pattern of squares’ [14] is probably short for chequer, which in turn is a reduced form of exchequer, a word derived ultimately from Vulgar Latin *scaccus ‘check’.=> cheque, chess, exchequer
- check (n.1)
- c. 1300, "a call in chess noting one's move has placed his opponent's king (or another major piece) in immediate peril," from Old French eschequier "a check at chess" (also "chess board, chess set"), from eschec "the game of chess; chessboard; check; checkmate," from Vulgar Latin *scaccus, from Arabic shah, from Persian shah "king," the principal piece in a chess game (see shah; also compare checkmate (n.)). Also c. 1300 in a generalized sense, "harmful incident or event." When the king is in check that player's choices are severely limited. Hence, "sudden stoppage" (early 14c.), and by c. 1700 to "a token of ownership used to check against, and prevent, loss or theft" (surviving in hat check) and "a check against forgery or alteration," which gave the modern financial use of "bank check, money draft" (first recorded 1798 and often spelled cheque), probably influenced by exchequer. Checking account is attested from 1897, American English. Blank check in the figurative sense attested by 1849. Checks and balances is from 1782, perhaps originally suggesting machinery.
- check (v.1)
- late 15c., in chess, "to attack the king; to put (the opponent's king) in check;" earlier (late 14c.), "to stop, arrest; block, barricade;" see check (n.1). A player in chess limits his opponent's ability to move when he places his opponent's king in check. All the other senses seem to have developed from the chess sense: "To arrest, stop;" then "to hold in restraint" (1620s); and finally "to hold up or control" (an assertion, a person, etc.) by comparison with some authority or record, 1690s. Hence, to check off (1839); to check up (1889); to check in or out (in a hotel, of a library book, etc., by 1918). To check out (something) "to look at, investigate" is from 1959. Related: Checked; checking.
- check (v.2)
- "mark like a chessboard, incise with a pattern of squares or checks," late 14c. (implied in checked), from check (n.1). Related: Checking.
- check (n.2)
- "pattern of squares, cross-like pattern," c. 1400, short for checker (n.1).
Example
- 1. Eco guards inspect check a dug-out canoe .
- 2. The rent check arrived each month a week early .
- 3. So check back for the next installment about customer journeys .
- 4. We will check it with the parties concerned .
- 5. Here they check the wheel 's effective area .