Meanings
- Under restraint or control.
It was a sudden meeting, and one in which rapture was kept well in check by pain.
1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter XI, in Jane Eyre. […], volume III, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 2673 more examples
The old feelings, so religiously held in check, were stimulated to rebelliousness, though they did not show themselves in any direct manner as yet.
1880, Thomas Hardy, chapter 37, in The Trumpet MajorI . . . espied a small cave, excellent suited to our defence and where two determined men might hold in check a whole army.
1921, Jeffery Farnol, chapter 30, in Martin Conisby's VengeanceScott also has schizoaffective bipolar disorder, a mental illness she keeps in check with a low dose of Zyprexa.
2008 December 3, Kate Torgovnick, “Why Do the Mentally Ill Die Younger?”, in TimeSynonyms: inhibited
Synonyms & antonyms
prepositional phraseUnder restraint or control.
Translations
Finnish kurissa
- kurissaphrase
Russian под контролем
- под контролем (pod kontrolem)phrase
Spanish en jaque, en regla
- en jaquephrase
- en reglaphrase
- como es debidophrase
Cite this entry
in check. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20check
“in check.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20check. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “in check,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20check.
Source: in check on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.