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Check vs Prove - What's the difference?

check | prove |

As verbs the difference between check and prove

is that check is to inspect; to examine while prove is to demonstrate that something is true or viable; to give proof for.

As a noun check

is a situation in which the king is directly threatened by an opposing piece.

check

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) eschec, from . All English senses developed from the chess sense.

Noun

(en noun)
  • (chess) A situation in which the king is directly threatened by an opposing piece.
  • 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 .
  • * Addison
  • a remarkable check to the first progress of Christianity
  • (US) A mark (especially a checkmark: ) used as an indicator, equivalent to a tick (UK) .
  • Place a check by the things you have done.
  • (US) An order to a bank to pay money to a named person or entity; a cheque (UK, Canada) .
  • I was not carrying cash, so I wrote a check for the amount.
  • (US) A 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.
  • A token used instead of cash in gaming machines.
  • * 1963 , American law reports annotated: second series (volume 89)
  • 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
  • (falconry) The forsaking by a hawk of its proper game to follow other birds.
  • A small chink or crack.
  • Synonyms
    * (note of monetary transfer) cheque * (indicator mark) tick (UK), checkmark, * (bill of sale) cheque (Canada)
    Descendants
    * German: * Spanish:

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To inspect; to examine.
  • Check the oil in your car once a month.
    Check whether this page has a watermark.
  • To mark with a checkmark.
  • Check the correct answer to each question.
  • To control, limit, or halt.
  • Check your enthusiasm during a negotiation.
  • * Burke
  • so many clogs to check and retard the headlong course of violence and oppression
  • * 1922 , (James Joyce), Chapter 13
  • She was about to retort but something checked the words on her tongue.
  • To verify or compare with a source of information.
  • Check your data against known values.
  • To leave in safekeeping.
  • Check your hat and coat at the door.
  • To leave with a shipping agent for shipping.
  • Check your bags at the ticket counter before the flight.
  • To 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 !
  • To physically remove a person from play.
  • The hockey player checked the defenceman to obtain the puck .
  • (poker) To remain in a hand without betting. Only legal if no one has yet bet.
  • Tom didn't think he could win, so he checked .
  • (chess) To make a move which puts an adversary's piece, especially the king, in check; to put in check.
  • To chide, rebuke, or reprove.
  • * Shakespeare
  • The good king, his master, will check him for it.
  • (nautical) 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.
  • To make checks or chinks in; to cause to crack.
  • The sun checks timber.
  • To make a stop; to pause; with at .
  • * John Locke
  • 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.
  • (obsolete) To clash or interfere.
  • (Francis Bacon)
  • To act as a curb or restraint.
  • * Dryden
  • It [his presence] checks too strong upon me.
  • (falconry) To turn, when in pursuit of proper game, and fly after other birds.
  • * Shakespeare
  • And like the haggard, check at every feather / That comes before his eye.
    Derived terms
    * check in * check into * check out * check over * check through * check up
    Derived terms
    * bad check * bed check * body check * bounce a check * cashier's check * check against * checkbook * check casher * checker * checkers * checkered * checking * checking account * check in * check into * checking account * check is in the mail * check a person out * check it out * checklist * checkmate * checkout * check out * check over * checkup * check up on * check valve * checks and balances * counter check * cross-check * discovered check * double check * double-check * hot check * kite a check * put in check * rain check * reality check * recheck * revealed check * shoulder check * stick check * teller's check * traveler's check * unch * unchecked

    Etymology 2

    By shortening from checker, from (etyl) scaccarium, ultimately from the same Persian root as above.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (textiles, usually, pluralized) A pattern made up of a grid of squares of alternating colors; a checkered pattern.
  • The tablecloth had red and white check s.

    References

    * * 'Check' at EtymOnline English terms derived from Persian ----

    prove

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) proven, from (etyl) . More at (l), (l), (l).

    Alternative forms

    * proove

    Verb

  • To demonstrate that something is true or viable; to give proof for.
  • {{quote-Fanny Hill, part=3 , Mr. H …, whom no distinctions of that sort seemed to disturb, scarce gave himself or me breathing time from the last encounter, but, as if he had task'd himself to prove that the appearances of his vigour were not signs hung out in vain, in a few minutes he was in a condition for renewing the onset}}
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=August 5, author=Nathan Rabin
  • , title= TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “I Love Lisa” (season 4, episode 15; originally aired 02/11/1993) , passage=Valentine’s Day means different things for different people. For Homer, it means forking over a hundred dollars for a dusty box of chocolates at the Kwik-E-Mart after characteristically forgetting the holiday yet again. For Ned, it’s another opportunity to prove his love for his wife. Most germane to the episode, for Lisa, Valentine’s Day means being the only person in her entire class to give Ralph a Valentine after noticing him looking crestfallen and alone at his desk.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=(Gary Younge)
  • , volume=188, issue=26, page=18, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Hypocrisy lies at heart of Manning prosecution , passage=WikiLeaks did not cause these uprisings but it certainly informed them. The dispatches revealed details of corruption and kleptocracy that many Tunisians suspected, but could not prove , and would cite as they took to the streets. They also exposed the blatant discrepancy between the west's professed values and actual foreign policies.}}
  • To turn out; to manifest.
  • (copulative) To turn out to be.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=May 5, author=Phil McNulty, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool , passage=He met Luis Suarez's cross at the far post, only for Chelsea keeper Petr Cech to show brilliant reflexes to deflect his header on to the bar. Carroll turned away to lead Liverpool's insistent protests that the ball had crossed the line but referee Phil Dowd and assistant referee Andrew Garratt waved play on, with even a succession of replays proving inconclusive.}}
  • To put to the test, to make trial of.
  • To ascertain or establish the genuineness or validity of; to verify.
  • to prove a will
  • (archaic) To experience
  • * Spenser
  • Where she, captived long, great woes did prove .
  • (printing, dated, transitive) To take a trial impression of; to take a proof of.
  • to prove a page
    Derived terms
    * disprovability * disprovable, disprovably * disprove * disproved, disproven * exception that proves the rule * provability * provable * provably * prove out * prover * proving ground * unprovability * unprovable * unprovably * unprove * unproved * unproven

    Etymology 2

    Simple past form of proove, conjugated in the Germanic strong declension, on the pattern of choose ? chose.

    Verb

    (head)
  • (proove)
  • Statistics

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