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Prevent vs Control - What's the difference?

prevent | control |

As verbs the difference between prevent and control

is that prevent is to stop; to keep (from happening) while control is to exercise influence over; to suggest or dictate the behavior of.

As a noun control is

influence or authority over.

prevent

English

Alternative forms

* (archaic)

Verb

(en verb)
  • To stop; to keep (from happening).
  • I brushed my teeth to prevent them from going yellow.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=October 1 , author=Tom Fordyce , title=Rugby World Cup 2011: England 16-12 Scotland , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=Scotland must now hope Georgia produce a huge upset and beat Argentina by at least eight points in Sunday's final Pool B match to prevent them failing to make the last eight for the first time in World Cup history.}}
  • * 1897 , Henry James, What Maisie Knew :
  • ‘I think you must be mad, and she shall not have a glimpse of it while I'm here to prevent !’
  • (obsolete) To come before; to precede.
  • * Bible, 1 Thess. iv. 15
  • We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
  • * Book of Common Prayer
  • We pray thee that thy grace may always prevent and follow us.
  • * Prior
  • Then had I come, preventing Sheba's queen.
  • (obsolete) To outdo, surpass.
  • * 1596 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , IV.i:
  • With that he put his spurres vnto his steed, / With speare in rest, and toward him did fare, / Like shaft out of a bow preuenting speed.
  • (obsolete) To be beforehand with; to anticipate.
  • * Alexander Pope
  • their ready guilt preventing thy commands

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

    * preventative * prevention * preventive

    control

    English

    Verb

    (controll)
  • To exercise influence over; to suggest or dictate the behavior of.
  • * With a simple remote, he could control the toy truck.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-05-17
  • , author=George Monbiot, authorlink=George Monbiot , title=Money just makes the rich suffer , volume=188, issue=23, page=19 , magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) citation , passage=In order to grant the rich these pleasures, the social contract is reconfigured. […]  The public realm is privatised, the regulations restraining the ultra–wealthy and the companies they control are abandoned, and Edwardian levels of inequality are almost fetishised.}}

    Derived terms

    * controller * controlling * controllable * controllability *

    Synonyms

    * * manage * * rule

    Antonyms

    * obey, submit (to be controlled ) * defy, rebel, resist (not to be controlled )

    Noun

  • (countable, uncountable) Influence or authority over.
  • A separate group or subject in an experiment against which the results are compared where the primary variable is low or non-existent.
  • The method and means of governing the performance of any apparatus, machine or system, such as a lever, handle or button.
  • Restraint or ability to contain one's movements or emotions, or self-control.
  • * '>citation
  • She had no control of her body as she tumbled downhill. She did not know up from down. It was not unlike being cartwheeled in a relentlessly crashing wave.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author=(Oliver Burkeman)
  • , volume=189, issue=2, page=27, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= The tao of tech , passage=The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you
  • A security mechanism, policy, or procedure that can counter system attack, reduce risks, and resolve vulnerabilities; a safeguard or countermeasure.
  • (project management) A means of monitoring for, and triggering intervention in, activities that are not going according to plan.
  • A duplicate book, register, or account, kept to correct or check another account or register.
  • (Johnson)
  • (graphical user interface) An interface element that a computer user interacts with, such as a window or a text box.
  • Synonyms

    * (GUI) widget

    Derived terms

    * control character * control panel * control tower * cruise control * in control * master control * mind control * out of control * proportional control * race control * self-control * under control