check

An inspection or examination.

• I don't know if she will be there, but it's worth a check.

A control; a limit or stop.

• checks and balances
• The castle moat should hold the enemy in check.

A situation in which the king is directly threatened by an opposing piece.

A mark (especially a checkmark: ✓) used as an indicator.US

• 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.

An order to a bank to pay money to a named person or entity.US

• I was not carrying cash, so I wrote a check for the amount.

A bill, particularly in a restaurant.US

• I summoned the waiter, paid the check, and hurried to leave.

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.

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

A lengthwise separation through the growth rings in wood.

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

To inspect; to examine.transitive

• Check the oil in your car once a month.
• Check whether this page has a watermark.

To verify the accuracy of a text or translation, usually making some corrections (proofread) or many (copyedit).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).USoftentransitive

• Check the items on the list that interest you.
• Check the correct answer to each question.

To control, limit, or halt.transitive

• Check your enthusiasm during a negotiation.
• In mid-sentence, I checked myself abruptly, looking terribly embarrassed.

To scold or rebuke someone.informaltransitive

To verify or compare with a source of information.transitive

• Check your data against known values.

To leave in safekeeping.transitive

• Check your hat and coat at the door.

To leave with a shipping agent for shipping.transitive

• Check your bags at the ticket counter before the flight.

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.transitive

• He checked the ball and then proceeded to perform a perfect layup.
• That basket doesn't count—you forgot to check!

To disrupt another player with the stick or body to obtain possession of the ball or puck.transitive

• The hockey player checked the defenceman to obtain the puck.

An expression showing that a requirement has been satisfied.

• Keys? Check. Batteries? Check. We are all ready to go!

An expression that indicates that the speaker wishes to pay the bill (e.g. in a restaurant).

A pattern made up of a grid of squares of alternating colors; a checkered pattern.in-plural

• The tablecloth had red and white checks.

Any fabric woven with such a pattern.

To mark with a check pattern.transitive

Checky, i.e. chequy.not-comparablepossiblyrare

• 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.

Alternative form of chick (“window blind or door screen”).IndiaPakistanalt-of