Definition of: check

(chek) noun
1. A sudden stopping or arrest; rebuff; reverse; delay.
2. Any person or thing that controls or restrains.
3. A check-rein.
4. A written order for money, drawn upon a bank or banker: also Brit. cheque.
5. A numbered tag, etc., used in duplicate to identify the owner of article.
6. Any examination, test, or comparison for verification; also, a mark for verification or identification.
7. A square in a checkered surface; also, any checkered pattern or fabric having a checkered pattern.
8. In chess, an attack upon or menace to the king.
9. In mining, a slight fault.
10. A chip used in games.
11. A crack, as in timber, caused by uneven seasoning, or, in steel, caused by uneven tempering.
12. A notch or rabbet in a piece of wood or stone into which another piece fits.
13. A curb on administrative power, as a constitutional right: the checks and balances of republican government.
14. A bill in a restaurant.
15. Obs. Rebuke; reproof. See synonyms under ANIMADVERSION, REPROOF.
—v.t.
1. To stop or restrain forcibly or suddenly.
2. To curb; hold in restraint, as with a checkrein.
3. To ascertain correctness of, as by comparison; investigate.
4. To mark with a check or checks.
5. To mark with a pattern of criss–crosses, as cloth.
6. To cause to crack; to make checks or chinks in.
7. To rebuke; rebuff; repulse: They checked the attack.
8. In chess, to put an opponent's king in check.
9. To deposit temporarily for safe-keeping: to check one's luggage.
10. Agric. To plant so as to form checkrows.
—v.i.
11. pause or make a stop.
12. To crack, as paint.
13. To agree item for item: My figures check with yours.
14. In chess, to give check to a king.
15. U.S. To draw on a checking account.
16. In hunting, to pause, as hounds, to locate a lost scent.
17. In falconry, to forsake proper quarry for baser game: with at.
—to check in U.S. To register as a guest at a hotel.
—to check out U.S.
1. To pay one's bill and leave, as from a hotel; also, to depart; die.
2. To investigate or confirm.
3. To be true or as expected, upon investigation.
4. To count and charge for (merchandise).
5. test the performance of.
—to check up
1. To test; examine: often with on.
2. To put a checkrein on.
—interj.
1. An exclamation proclaiming that the opponent's king is in check.
2. Correct; that is right.
—adjective
1. Checkered.
2. Serving to verify or confirm: a check test. [<OF eschek defeat, check <Arabic shāh king <Persian; orig. from chess, indicating the king was in danger]