controller

noun

con·​trol·​ler kən-ˈtrō-lər  ˈkän-ˌtrō- 

1

a

: comptroller sense 1

b

: comptroller sense 2

c

: the chief accounting officer of a business enterprise or an institution (such as a college)

2

a

: one that controls or has power or authority to control

air traffic controller

b

: control sense 3a

controllership

kən-ˈtrō-lər-ˌship 

ˈkän-ˌtrō-

noun

Synonyms

• control
• regulator

Examples of controller in a Sentence

the controllers for the video game system seem fairly well designed

Recent Examples on the Web

The quarter-million mile flight reached the moon on Christmas Eve 1968, and controllers in Houston wanted to know what the moon looked like up close. —Russell Lewis, NPR, 7 June 2024

Flight controllers called off a May 6 attempt because of an issue with a liquid-oxygen valve on the Atlas V’s Centaur upper stage, then delayed it further to troubleshoot small helium leaks in Starliner’s maneuvering engines. —Rob Pegoraro, PCMAG, 5 June 2024

In the civil fraud case last year, prosecutors questioned the Trump Organization’s former controller about the $500,000 in severance he had been promised after retiring earlier in the year. —Robert Faturechi, ProPublica, 3 June 2024

Our approach reveals the vulnerabilities of black-box neural network controllers, providing valuable insights that can be leveraged to enhance robustness through retraining. —IEEE Spectrum, 31 May 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English countreroller, from Anglo-French contreroulur, from contreroule

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing controller

• air traffic controller
• forward air controller

Kids Definition

controller

noun

con·​trol·​ler kən-ˈtrō-lər  ˈkän-ˌtrō-lər 

1

: the chief accounting officer of a business or institution

2

: a person who controls

an air traffic controller

3

: control entry 2 sense 3a

Legal Definition

controller

noun

con·​trol·​ler kən-ˈtrō-lər, ˈkän-ˌtrō- 

: comptroller