Check , a. Checkered; designed in
checks.
Check (?), v. i. To make a stop; to pause; -- with at.
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.
Locke.
2. To clash or interfere. [R.]
Bacon.
3. To act as a curb or restraint.
It [his presence] checks too strong upon me.
Dryden.
4. To crack or gape
open, as wood in drying; or to
crack in small checks, as varnish, paint, etc.
5. (Falconry) 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.
Shak.
Check , v. t. [imp. & p. p. Checked (?);
p. pr. & vb. n.
checking.]
1. (Chess) To make a move which puts an adversary's piece, esp. his king, in check; to put
in check.
2. To put
a sudden restraint upon; to stop temporarily; to hinder; to repress; to curb.
So many clogs to check and retard the headlong course of violence and oppression.
Burke.
3.
To verify, to guard, to make secure, by means of a mark, token, or other check; to distinguish by a check; to put a mark against (an item) after comparing with an original or a
counterpart in order to secure accuracy; as, to check an account; to check baggage.
4. To chide, rebuke, or reprove.
The good king, his master, will check him for it.
Shak.
5. (Naut.) To slack or ease off, as a brace which
is too stiffly extended.
6.
To make checks or chinks in; to
cause to crack; as, the
sun checks timber.
Syn.
-- To restrain; curb; bridle; repress; control; hinder; impede; obstruct; interrupt; tally; rebuke; reprove; rebuff.
Check (?), n. [OE.
chek, OF. eschec, F.
échec, a stop, hindrance, orig. check in the game of chess, pl. échecs
chess, through AR., fr. Pers. shāh king. See
Shah, and cf. Checkmate, Chess,
Checker.]
1. (Chess) A word of warning denoting that the king is in danger; such a menace
of a player's king
by an adversary's move as would, if it were any other piece, expose it to
immediate capture. A king so menaced
is said to be in check, and must be made
safe at the
next move.
2. A condition of interrupted or impeded progress; arrest; stop; delay; as, to hold an enemy in
check.
Which gave a
remarkable check
to the first progress of Christianity.
Addison.
No
check, no stay, this streamlet fears.
Wordsworth.
3. Whatever arrests progress,
or limits action; an obstacle, guard, restraint, or rebuff.
Useful check upon the administration of government.
Washington.
A man whom no
check could abash.
Macaulay.
4. A mark,
certificate, or token, by which, errors may be prevented, or a
thing or person may be
identified; as, checks placed against items in an account; a
check given for baggage; a return check on a
railroad.
5. A written order directing a bank or banker to pay
money as therein stated. See Bank check, below.
6. A woven or painted design in squares resembling the patten of a checkerboard; one of the squares of
such a design; also, cloth having such a figure.
7. (Falconry) The
forsaking by a hawk of its proper game to follow other birds.
8. Small chick or crack.
Bank check, a written order on a banker or broker to pay
money in his keeping belonging to the signer. -- Check book, a book containing blank forms for checks upon a bank. -- Check hook, a hook on the saddle of a harness, over which a checkrein is looped. -- Check list, a list or catalogue by which things may be verified, or on
which they may be checked. -- Check nut (Mech.),
a secondary nut, screwing down upon the
primary nut to secure it. Knight. -- Check valve (Mech.),
a valve in the feed pipe of a boiler to prevent the return of the
feed water. -- To take check, to take offense. [Obs.]
Dryden.
Syn. -- Hindrance; setback; interruption; obstruction; reprimand; censure; rebuke; reproof; repulse; rebuff; tally; counterfoil; counterbalance; ticket; draft.
Hear it pronounced