check

Etymology 1

From Middle English chek, chekke, borrowed from Old French eschek, eschec, eschac, from Medieval Latin scaccus, borrowed from Arabic شَاه (šāh, “king or check at chess, shah”), borrowed from Persian شاه (šâh, “king”), from Middle Persian 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠 (mlkʾ /⁠šāh⁠/), from Old Persian 𐏋 (XŠ /⁠xšāyaθiya⁠/, “king”), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *kšáyati (“he rules, he has power over”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tek- (“to gain power over, gain control over”). All English senses developed from the chess sense. Compare Saterland Frisian Schak, Schach, Dutch schaak, German Schach, Danish skak, Swedish schack, Icelandic skák, French échec, Italian scacco. See chess and shah (“king of Persia or Iran”), from the same source.

noun

1. An inspection or examination.
   I don't know if she will be there, but it's worth a check.
2. A control; a limit or stop.
   checks and balances
   The castle moat should hold the enemy in check.
3. (chess) A situation in which the king is directly threatened by an opposing piece.
4. (US) A mark (especially a checkmark: ✓) used as an indicator.
5. (US) An order to a bank to pay money to a named person or entity.
   I was not carrying cash, so I wrote a check for the amount.
6. (US) A bill, particularly in a restaurant.
   I summoned the waiter, paid the check, and hurried to leave.
7. (contact sports) 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.
8. A token used instead of cash in gaming machines, or in gambling generally.
   […]the statute prohibits a machine which dispenses checks or tokens for replay[…] 1963, American law reports annotated: second series, volume 89
9. A lengthwise separation through the growth rings in wood.
10. 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
11. (falconry) The forsaking by a hawk of its proper game to follow other birds. [from 15th c.]
12. A small chink or crack.

Etymology 2

From Middle English chekken, partly from Old French eschequier and partly from the noun (see above).

verb

1. (transitive) To inspect; to examine.
   Check the oil in your car once a month.
   Check whether this page has a watermark.
2. (transitive) To verify the accuracy of a text or translation, usually making some corrections (proofread) or many (copyedit).
3. (transitive, US, often used with "off") To mark items on a list (with a checkmark or by crossing them out) that have been chosen for keeping or removal or that have been dealt with (for example, completed or verified as correct or satisfactory).
   Check the items on the list that interest you.
   Check off the items that you've checked (inspected).
   Check the correct answer to each question.
4. (transitive) To control, limit, or halt.
   Check your enthusiasm during a negotiation.
   c. 1775–1780, Edmund Burke, letter to the Sheriffs of Bristol so many clogs to check and retard the headlong course of violence and oppression
5. (transitive) To verify or compare with a source of information.
   Check your data against known values.
6. (transitive) To leave in safekeeping.
   Check your hat and coat at the door.
7. (transitive) To leave with a shipping agent for shipping.
   Check your bags at the ticket counter before the flight.
8. (street basketball, transitive) 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!
9. (sports, transitive) To disrupt another player with the stick or body to obtain possession of the ball or puck.
   The hockey player checked the defenceman to obtain the puck.
10. (poker, transitive) To announce that one is remaining in a hand without betting.
    Tom didn't think he could win, so he checked.
11. (chess, transitive) To make a move which puts an adversary's king in check; to put in check.
    After I checked my opponent with a pawn, he resigned immediately.
12. (transitive) To chide, rebuke, or reprove.
13. (nautical) To slack or ease off, as a brace which is too stiffly extended.
14. To crack or gape open, as wood in drying; or to crack in small checks, as varnish, paint, etc.
15. (transitive) To make checks or chinks in; to cause to crack.
    The sun checks timber.
16. (intransitive, with at) To make a stop; to pause.
    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.
17. (obsolete) To clash or interfere.
18. To act as a curb or restraint.
19. (falconry) To turn, when in pursuit of proper game, and fly after other birds.

Etymology 3

By shortening from chequer, from Old French eschequier (“chessboard”), from Medieval Latin scaccarium, ultimately from the same Persian root as above.

noun

1. (textiles, usually pluralized) A pattern made up of a grid of squares of alternating colors; a checkered pattern.
   The tablecloth had red and white checks.
   One of her female followers, had made a very elegant piece of check. The Friend, being at her house, on a visit, the lady shewed the check to her, and as evidence of devotion to her leader, proposed presenting her with a pattern off the piece for her own use. 1819, Charles Mowry, in the Downington Pennsylvania American Republican, quoted in Herbery Wisbey, Pioneer Prophetess: Jemima Wilkinson, the Publick Universal Friend
2. Any fabric woven with such a pattern.

verb

1. (transitive) To mark with a check pattern.

adj

1. (heraldry, rare, possibly only as a printing error) Checky, i.e. chequy.
   CHECKY, … Checky, according to Colombiere, is one of the most noble and ancient figures … Checky is always composed of metal, and colour. … So that if that be or, and the next gules, the house or family is said to bear check, or, and gules. When the whole shield is not chequered , but only the chief, a bend, cross, or the like, the number of ranges should be expressed. 1741, Ephraim Chambers, Cyclopaedia: Or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (etc.) 5. Ed
   He died about 1270; and his son, Sir Robert, assisted the brave Sir William Wallace, and died in 1800. BOYD ARMS. Azure, a fesse check, argent et gules. 1825, Robert Trotter (the Younger.), Derwentwater; Or, the Adherents of King James. A Tale of the First Rebellion. With an Appendix, Containing Genealogical Notices and Anecdotes of Several Ancient and Honourable Families, page 115