check¹ / chek/ • v. [tr.] 1. examine (something) in order to determine its accuracy, quality, or condition, or to detect the presence of something: customs officers have the right to check all luggage| [intr.] a simple blood test to check for anemia. ∎  verify or establish to one's satisfaction: check the expiration date on your passport. ∎  examine with a view to rectifying any fault or problem discovered: check the oil and fluid levels again. ∎  (check against) verify the accuracy of something by comparing it with (something else): keep your receipt to check against your statement. ∎ another way of saying check something off. ∎ another way of saying check something in. ∎  [intr.] agree or correspond when compared.2. stop or slow down the progress of (something undesirable): efforts were made to check the disease. ∎  curb or restrain (a feeling or emotion): he learned to check his excitement. ∎  (check oneself) master an involuntary reaction: Chris took one step backward then checked himself. ∎  Hockey hamper or neutralize (an opponent) with one's body or stick. ∎  [intr.] (check against) provide a means of preventing: processes to check against deterioration in the quality of the data held. ∎  [intr.] (of a hound) pause to make sure of or regain a scent. ∎  [intr.] (of a trained hawk) abandon the intended quarry and fly after other prey.3. [tr.] Chess move a piece or pawn so that (the opposing king) is under attack.4. [intr.] (in poker) choose not to make a bet when called upon, allowing the action to move to another player.• n. 1. an examination to test or ascertain accuracy, quality, or satisfactory condition.2. a stopping or slowing of progress: there was no check to the expansion of the market. ∎  a means of control or restraint: a permanent check upon the growth of central authority. ∎  Hockey an act of hampering or neutralizing an opponent with one's body or stick. ∎  a temporary loss of the scent in hunting. ∎  Falconry a false stoop when a hawk abandons its intended quarry and pursues other prey. ∎  a part of a piano that catches the hammer and prevents it from retouching the strings.3. Chess a move by which a piece or pawn directly attacks the opponent's king. If the defending player cannot counter the attack, the king is checkmated.4. the bill in a restaurant. ∎  (also baggage/luggage check) a token of identification for left luggage. ∎  a counter used as a stake in a gambling game.5. short for check mark.6. a crack or flaw in timber.• interj. 1. inf. expressing assent or agreement.2. used by a chess player to announce that the opponent's king has been placed in check.PHRASES: in check1. under control: a way of keeping inflation in check.2. Chess (of a king) directly attacked by an opponent's piece or pawn; (of a player) having the king in this position.PHRASAL VERBS: check in (or check someone in) arrive and register at a hotel or airport.check something in have one's baggage weighed and put aside for consignment to the hold of an aircraft on which one is booked to travel. ∎  register and leave baggage in a left-luggage department.check into register one's arrival at (a hotel).check something off mark an item on a list with a check mark to show that it has been dealt with.check on1. verify, ascertain, or monitor the state or condition of.2. another way of saying check up on.check out settle one's hotel bill before leaving. ∎ inf. die.check someone/something out1. establish the truth or inform oneself about someone or something: they decided to check out a local restaurant.2. (check something out) enter the price of goods in a supermarket into a cash register for addition and payment by a customer. ∎  register something as having been borrowed.check something over inspect or examine something thoroughly.check up on investigate in order to establish the truth about or accuracy of.DERIVATIVES: check·a·ble adj.check² (Brit. cheque) • n. a written order to a bank to pay a stated sum from the drawer's account: awarded a check for $1,000. ∎ the printed form on which such an order is written.check³ • n. a pattern of small squares: a fine black-and-white check. ∎  a garment or fabric with such a pattern.• adj. having such a pattern: a blue check T-shirt.

CHECK

A written order instructing a bank to pay upon its presentation to the person designated in it, or to the person possessing it, a certain sum of money from the account of the person who draws it.

A check must contain the phrase "pay to the order of." A check differs from a draft in that a check is always drawn on a bank, while a draft is an order for payment drawn on anyone, including a bank, a person, or a trading account with a company.

A blank check is one that the drawer signs but omits filling in the space for the name of the payee, the person in whose favor a check is drawn, or neglects to fill in the space for the amount to be paid.

A cashier's check is one that the bank draws on itself and is signed by an authorized bank official. The bank lends its credit to the purchaser of the check in order to facilitate its immediate use in commercial transactions. It is a direct obligation of the bank.

A personal check is one that the individual draws on his or her own account.

A postdated check is one that bears a date after its date of issuance, and is payable on the stated date.

A traveler's check is one purchased from a bank, express company, or other financial institution in various denominations, and is signed immediately by the purchaser in order to establish the form of his or her signature. The check cannot be treated as cash because of this first signature, but it is treated as cash upon the purchaser's second signature when he or she uses it. The genuineness of the second signature is established by comparing it to the initial signature. A traveler's check is similar to a cashier's check of the issuer.

check 1 threat to the king at chess XIV; †attack, reprimand XIV; (f. the vb.) arrest, restriction XVI; counterfoil, identifying token (cf. CHEQUE) XVIII. Aphetic — OF. eschec (mod. échec), alt. of *eschac :- Rom. (medL.) scaccus — (via Arab.) Pers. šāh king, SHAH; cf. CHECKMATE, CHESS, EXCHEQUER.
So check vb. put in check, arrest, stop. XIV.

check 2 pattern of cross lines forming squares XIV; also vb. XV. prob. short for CHEQUER.

check Some means or process of validating the accuracy of a segment of data, the result of a computation, or completion of a successful message transmission (across a network or to an I/O device).