Read along with the three podcasts, or open the full dictionary entry for Under control for the definition, Arabic meaning, synonyms and example sentences.
Narrator: Today's word is "Under-Control" — phrase (adjective), pronounced /ˌʌndə kənˈtrəʊl/, with the stress on "trol".
Narrator: Under control means being successfully managed, limited or kept within safe bounds.
Narrator: In plain English, somebody has a firm grip on it.
Narrator: It joins under with control, from Old French contreroller, to check against a roll.
Narrator: A common collocation is "the fire is under control", which describes a blaze the crews have contained.
Narrator: It differs from "finished", because under control means managed but still ongoing, not over.
Narrator: In a second sense, "keep costs under control" means holding spending within limits.
Narrator: Emergency services, finance, project work and operations rely on the phrase.
Narrator: So remember: under control means safely managed, though not yet over.
Speaker A: Does "under control" mean the fire is out?
Speaker B: Not at all — it means contained! UNDER CONTROL comes from control, Old French contreroller.
Speaker A: So crews stay on site?
Speaker B: For hours, often.
Speaker A: Example sentences?
Speaker B: "The situation is under control", operations. "Keep your spending under control", finance. "Her nerves were under control", everyday.
Speaker A: Common mistakes?
Speaker B: Under control describes the thing managed, while "in control of" names the person doing the managing.
Speaker A: Close relatives?
Speaker B: Contained is its cousin, in hand its twin, and managed an alternative — yet under control keeps its steady charm!
Speaker B: Let's use "under control" in AI prompts — useful for incident updates and cost monitoring.
Speaker A: How for incidents?
Speaker B: Honest status.
Prompt: Write a status update saying the outage is under control while repairs continue.
Speaker A: And costs?
Speaker B: Budget guards.
Prompt: Set spending alerts that confirm each project stays under control this quarter.
Speaker A: Could it help teams?
Speaker B: Yes, for standups.
Prompt: Summarise this sprint board and say which risks are now under control.
Speaker A: One more?
Speaker B: Capacity.
Prompt: Suggest limits that keep background job memory use under control during peak hours.
Under control — meaning in Arabic & definition More U courses GL Dictionary