check

Noun (1)

check (plural checks)

1. An inspection or examination.
   • I don't know if she will be there, but it's worth a check.
2. A control; a limit or stop.
   • checks and balances
   • The castle moat should hold the enemy in check.
3. A situation in which the king is directly threatened by an opposing piece.
4. (US) A mark (especially a checkmark: ✓) used as an indicator.
   • Norton had made a neat, lawyerly check beside each of the items he and Billy had picked up—half a dozen or so, including the milk and a six-pack of Coke.1980, Stephen King, The Mist, Viking Press

   Synonyms:

   tick, checkmark

5. (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.

   Synonyms:

   cheque

6. (US) A bill, particularly in a restaurant.
   • I summoned the waiter, paid the check, and hurried to leave.
7. (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.
   • Liverpool had been reduced to 10 men in the 88th minute, Ibrahima Konaté collecting a second yellow card for a check on Kai Havertz.2024 February 4, David Hytner, “Arsenal ignite title hopes as Gabriel Martinelli punishes Liverpool error”, in The Guardian
8. 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
   • […]the statute prohibits a machine which dispenses checks or tokens for replay[…]1963, American law reports annotated: second series, volume 89
9. A lengthwise separation through the growth rings in wood.
10. A mark, certificate, or token by which errors may be prevented, or a thing or person may be identified.
    • a check given for baggage
    • a return check on a railroad
11. The forsaking by a hawk of its proper game to follow other birds.
12. A small chink or crack.
13. In randomizers, a possible place where an item may be.

Verb (1)

check (third-person singular simple present checks, present participle checking, simple past and past participle checked)

1. (transitive) To inspect; to examine.
   • Check the oil in your car once a month.
   • Check whether this page has a watermark.
2. (transitive) To verify the accuracy of a text or translation, usually making some corrections (proofread) or many (copyedit).
3. (US, often, transitive) 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.
   • Check the correct answer to each question.

   Synonyms:

   check off, tick, tick off, cross off, strike off

   Antonyms:

   uncheck

4. (transitive) To control, limit, or halt.
   • Check your enthusiasm during a negotiation.
   • In mid-sentence, I checked myself abruptly, looking terribly embarrassed.

   Synonyms:

   curtail, restrain, behedge, guard, govern, smother, bind, chasten, choke back, inhibit

5. (informal, transitive) To scold or rebuke someone.
6. (transitive) To verify or compare with a source of information.
   • Check your data against known values.
7. (transitive) To leave in safekeeping.
   • Check your hat and coat at the door.
8. (transitive) To leave with a shipping agent for shipping.
   • Check your bags at the ticket counter before the flight.
9. (transitive, street basketball) To pass or bounce the ball to an opponent from behind the three-point line and have the opponent pass or bounce it back to start play.
   • He checked the ball and then proceeded to perform a perfect layup.
   • That basket doesn't count—you forgot to check!
10. (transitive) To disrupt another player with the stick or body to obtain possession of the ball or puck.
    • The hockey player checked the defenceman to obtain the puck.

    Synonyms:

    tackle, trap, attack

11. (transitive) To announce that one is remaining in a hand without betting.
    • Tom didn't think he could win, so he checked.
12. (transitive) To make a move which puts an adversary's king in check; to put in check.
    • After I checked my opponent with a pawn, he resigned immediately.

Interjection

1. An expression showing that a requirement has been satisfied.
   • Keys? Check. Batteries? Check. We are all ready to go!
2. An expression that indicates that the speaker wishes to pay the bill (e.g. in a restaurant).

Noun (2)

check (plural checks)

1. (in plural) A pattern made up of a grid of squares of alternating colors; a checkered pattern.
   • The tablecloth had red and white checks.
   • One of her female followers, had made a very elegant piece of check. The Friend, being at her house, on a visit, the lady shewed the check to her, and as evidence of devotion to her leader, proposed presenting her with a pattern off the piece for her own use.1819, Charles Mowry, in the Downington Pennsylvania American Republican, quoted in Herbery Wisbey, Pioneer Prophetess: Jemima Wilkinson, the Publick Universal Friend
2. Any fabric woven with such a pattern.

Verb (2)

check (third-person singular simple present checks, present participle checking, simple past and past participle checked)

1. (transitive) To mark with a check pattern.

Adjective

check (not comparable)

1. (possibly, rare) Checky, i.e. chequy.
   • CHECKY, […] Checky, according to Colombiere, is one of the most noble and ancient figures […] Checky is always composed of metal, and colour. […] So that if that be or, and the next gules, the house or family is said to bear check, or, and gules. When the whole shield is not chequered , but only...1741, Ephraim Chambers, Cyclopaedia: Or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (etc.) 5. Ed
   • He died about 1270; and his son, Sir Robert, assisted the brave Sir William Wallace, and died in 1800. BOYD ARMS. Azure, a fesse check, argent et gules.1825, Robert Trotter (the Younger.), Derwentwater; Or, the Adherents of King James. A Tale of the First Rebellion. With an Appendix, Containing Genealogical Notices and Anecdotes of Several Ancient...

Proper noun capitalized: Check

Check (plural Checks)

1. A surname.