CONTROLLER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does controller mean? 

• CONTROLLER (noun)
  The noun CONTROLLER has 3 senses:

1. someone who maintains and audits business accounts

2. a person who directs and restrains

3. a mechanism that controls the operation of a machine

  Familiarity information: CONTROLLER used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CONTROLLER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Someone who maintains and audits business accounts

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

accountant; comptroller; controller

Hypernyms ("controller" is a kind of...):

bourgeois; businessperson (a capitalist who engages in industrial commercial enterprise)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "controller"):

auditor (a qualified accountant who inspects the accounting records and practices of a business or other organization)

cost accountant (a specialist in the systematic recording and analysis of the costs incident to production)

chartered accountant (a British or Canadian accountant who is a member of a professional body that has a royal charter)

certified public accountant; CPA (an accountant who has passed certain examinations and met all other statutory and licensing requirements of a United States state to be certified by that state)

bookkeeper (someone who records the transactions of a business)

bean counter (an accountant or bureaucrat who is believed to place undue emphasis on the control of expenditures)

Derivation:

control (verify by using a duplicate register for comparison)

controllership (the position of controller)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A person who directs and restrains

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

controller; restrainer

Hypernyms ("controller" is a kind of...):

individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "controller"):

nazi (derogatory term for a person who is fanatically dedicated to, or seeks to control, some activity, practice, etc.)

overcomer; subduer; surmounter (someone who overcomes and establishes ascendancy and control by force or persuasion)

suppresser; suppressor (someone who suppresses)

withholder (a person who restrains or checks or holds back)

Derivation:

control (maintain influence over (others or oneself) skillfully, usually to one's advantage)

control (exercise authoritative control or power over)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A mechanism that controls the operation of a machine

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

control; controller

Context example:

I turned the controls over to her

Hypernyms ("controller" is a kind of...):

mechanism (device consisting of a piece of machinery; has moving parts that perform some function)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "controller"):

dial (the control on a radio or television set that is used for tuning)

disk controller ((computer science) a circuit or chip that translates commands into a form that can control a hard disk drive)

governor; regulator (a control that maintains a steady speed in a machine (as by controlling the supply of fuel))

handwheel (control consisting of a wheel whose rim serves as the handle by which a part is operated)

joystick (a manual control consisting of a vertical handle that can move freely in two directions; used as an input device to computers or to devices controlled by computers)

regulator (any of various controls or devices for regulating or controlling fluid flow, pressure, temperature, etc.)

electric switch; electrical switch; switch (control consisting of a mechanical or electrical or electronic device for making or breaking or changing the connections in a circuit)

valve (control consisting of a mechanical device for controlling the flow of a fluid)

cruise control (control mechanism for keeping an automobile at a set speed)

 Context examples 

Now that Dawn can reliably communicate with Earth again, mission controllers have programmed the maneuvers necessary for the next stage of the rendezvous, which they label the Ceres approach phase.

(Dawn Spacecraft Begins Approach to Dwarf Planet Ceres, NASA)

Mission controllers expect images from the encounter to arrive on Earth within 24 to 48 hours.

(Cassini Prepares for Last Up-close Look at Hyperion, NASA)

Mission controllers expect fresh images to begin arriving on Earth within a couple of days following the encounter.

(Cassini to Make Last Close Flyby of Saturn Moon Dione, NASA)

The Queqiao satellite is deployed about 455,000 kilometers from Earth, where it will relay communications between ground controllers and the Chang’e-4.

(Chinese Rover Making Tracks on Dark Side of the Moon, VOA)

Mission controllers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, have confirmed NASA’s MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft impacted the surface of Mercury, as anticipated, at 3:26 p.m. EDT.

(NASA Completes MESSENGER Mission with Expected Impact on Mercury's Surface, NASA)

Mission controllers at ESA's mission operations center in Darmstadt, Germany, received a signal confirming that the Philae lander had touched down on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on Wednesday, Nov. 12, just after 8 a.m. PST/11 a.m. EST.

(Rosetta's 'Philae' Makes Historic First Landing on a Comet, NASA)