/t͡ʃɛk/, [t͡ʃʰɛk̚]
OriginFrom Middle English chek, chekke, borrowed from Old French eschek, eschec, eschac, from Medieval Latin scaccus, borrowed from Arabic شَاه (šāh, “king or check at chess, shah”), borrowed from Classical Persian شَاه (šāh, “king”), from Middle Persian 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠 (mlkʾ /šāh/), from Old Persian 𐏋 (XŠ /xšāyaθiya/, “king”), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *kšáyati (“he rules, he has power over”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tek- (“to gain power over, gain control over”). All of the English senses developed from the chess sense. Compare Saterland Frisian Schak, Schach, Dutch schaak, German Schach, Danish skak, Swedish schack, Icelandic skák, French échec, Italian scacco. See chess and shah (“king of Persia or Iran”), from the same source, as well as thig, which derives from the Germanic cognate.
- 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 remarkable check to the first progress of Christianity”
- A situation in which the king is directly threatened by an opposing piece.
- USA 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.”
- USAn 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.”
- USA bill, particularly in a restaurant.
“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.”
“Liverpool had been reduced to 10 men in the 88th minute, Ibrahima Konaté collecting a second yellow card for a check on Kai Havertz.”
- 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[…]”
- 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”
- The forsaking by a hawk of its proper game to follow other birds.
- A small chink or crack.
- 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 p”
- Any fabric woven with such a pattern.
- transitiveTo inspect; to examine.
“Check the oil in your car once a month.”
“Check whether this page has a watermark.”
- transitiveTo verify the accuracy of a text or translation, usually making some corrections (proofread) or many (copyedit).
- US, often, transitiveTo 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.”
- transitiveTo control, limit, or halt.
“Check your enthusiasm during a negotiation.”
“c. 1775–1780, Edmund Burke, letter to the Sheriffs of Bristol
so many clogs to check and retard the headlong course of violence and oppression”
“She was about to retort but something checked the words on her tongue.”
- informal, transitiveTo scold or rebuke someone.
- transitiveTo verify or compare with a source of information.
“Check your data against known values.”
- transitiveTo leave in safekeeping.
“Check your hat and coat at the door.”
- transitiveTo leave with a shipping agent for shipping.
“Check your bags at the ticket counter before the flight.”
- transitiveTo 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!”
- transitiveTo 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.”
- transitiveTo announce that one is remaining in a hand without betting.
“Tom didn't think he could win, so he checked.”
- transitiveTo 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.”
- transitiveTo chide, rebuke, or reprove.
“The good king, his master, will check him for it.”
- To slack or ease off, as a brace which is too stiffly extended.
- To crack or gape open, as wood in drying; or to crack in small checks, as varnish, paint, etc.
- transitiveTo make checks or chinks in; to cause to crack.
- intransitiveTo make a stop; to pause.
“The mind, once jaded by an attempt above its power, either is disabled for the future, or else checks at any vigorous undertaking ever after.”
- obsoleteTo clash or interfere.
“For if it [Loue] checke once with businesse, it troubleth Mens fortunes.”
- To act as a curb or restraint.
“It [his presence] checks too strong upon me.”
- To turn, when in pursuit of proper game, and fly after other birds.
“And like the haggard, check at every feather
That comes before his eye.”
- intransitiveTo check out, make sense or prove to be the case after verification or interrogation.
“Didn’t remember that at all. But it sure checks!”
- transitiveTo mark with a check pattern.
- 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).
- not-comparable, possibly, rareChecky, 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 h”
“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.”
Formschecks(plural) · checks(present, singular, third-person) · checking(participle, present) · checked(participle, past) · checked(past) · check(infinitive) · check(first-person, present, singular) · checked(first-person, past, singular) · check(present, second-person, singular) · checkest(archaic, present, second-person, singular) · checked(past, second-person, singular) · checkedst(archaic, past, second-person, singular) · checketh(archaic, present, singular, third-person) · checked(past, singular, third-person) · check(plural, present) · checked(past, plural) · check(present, subjunctive) · checked(past, subjunctive) · check(imperative, present) · -(imperative, past)