controller Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun someone who maintains and audits business accounts
    accountant; comptroller.
  2. noun a person who directs and restrains
    restrainer.
  3. noun a mechanism that controls the operation of a machine
    control.
    • the speed controller on his turntable was not working properly
    • I turned the controls over to her

WordNet

Con*trol"ler noun
Etymology
From control, v.t.: cf. F. contrôleur.
Definitions
  1. One who, or that which, controls or restraines; one who has power or authority to regulate or control; one who governs.
    The great controller of our fate Deigned to be man, and lived in low estate. Dryden.
  2. An officer appointed to keep a counter register of accounts, or to examine, rectify, or verify accounts. More commonly written controller.
  3. (Naut.) An iron block, usually bolted to a ship's deck, for controlling the running out of a chain cable. The links of the cable tend to drop into hollows in the block, and thus hold fast until disengaged.

Webster 1913