check1 (chek)

and a. [ in check. See che 1. The fair'st jewel that our hopes can deck, Is so to play our game t' avoid your check . IMG:content-0204.png:[blocks in formation] Climate plays an important part in determining the average numbers of a species, and periodical seasons of extreme cold or drought seem to be the most effective of all checks. Darwin, Origin of Species, p. 75. 5. A means of detecting or exposing error; an obstruction to the effect or acceptance of anything erroneous: as, one author serves as a check upon another in seeking the truth; a check upon the accuracy of a computation or an experiment. -6. In falconry, the act of a hawk when she forsakes her proper game to follow rooks, magpies, or other birds that cro her in her flight: as, the hawk made a check, or flew at or on check. Hence-7. Base game, such as rooks, small birds, etc.-8. A pattern of squares of alternating colors. Properly a check should have no divisions between the squares more than a thin boundary line; that is, it should resemble the ordinary che -board. See plaid. Hence-9. A fabric having such a pattern.10. A mark put against names or items on going over a list, to indicate that they have been verified, compared, or otherwise examined. 11. Any counter-register used as a security, as the correspondent cipher of a bank-note, a corresponding indenture, etc.; a counterfoil.12. A token, usually in the form of a written or printed slip of paper or a stamped piece of metal, given as a means of identification, as to a railroad-pa enger to identify his baggage, or (by a conductor) as a substitute for his ticket, or to a person leaving a theater with the intention of returning, as a means of showing his right to admi ion on his return and of identifying his seat. Checks for baggage are generally of bra and checker The spoiler came, yet paused, as though So meek a victim checked his arm. Barham , On the Death of a Daughter. Said the good nuns would check her gadding tongue. Tennyson, Guinevere. 3. Naut.: ( a ) To ease off (a little of a rope which is too tightly strained). (b) To stop or regulate the motion of, as a cable when it is running out too violently.-4. To restrain by rebuke; ehide or reprove. Richard-with his eye brimful of tears, Then check'd and rated by North umber land- Did speak these words. Shak., 2 Hen. IV., iii. 1. Some men in the Fair, that were more observing and le prejudiced than the rest, began to check and blame the baser sort, for their continual abuses done by them to the Men. Bunyan , Pilgrim's Progre , p. 156. 5. To mark in checks or small squares.-6. To compare with a counterfoil or something similar, with a view to ascertain authenticity or accuracy; control by a counter-register; test the accuracy of by comparison with vouchers or a duplicate: as, to check an account.-7. To note with a mark as having been examined, or for some other purpose; mark off from a list after examination or verification: as, to check the items of a bill; to check the names on a voting-list.-8. To attach a check to, for the purpose of identification: as, to check baggage. II. in trans. 1. To make a stop; stop; pause: generally with at. And she, that dar'd all dangers to po e him, Will check at nothing to revenge the lo Of what she held so dear. Fletcher, Double Marriage, v. 2. The miller perceived his wheel to check on the sudden, which made him look out, and so he found the child sitting up to the waist in the shallow water beneath the mill. Winthrop, Hist. New England, II. 326. 21. To clash or interfere. They do best, who if they cannot but admit love, yet sever it wholly from their serious affairs and actions of life; for if it check once with busine , it troubleth men's fortunes. Bacon , Of Love. 3t. To exercise a check. I'll avoid his presence, It checks too strong upon me. Dryden. in duplicate, one being attached to the piece of baggage checked and the other given to the owner. 13. A written order for money drawn on a bank or private banker or bank-cashier, payable to a person named, or to his order, or to bearer. In legal effect it is a bill of exchange. [In England commonly spelled cheque.] -14. A roll or book containing the names of persons who are attendants and in the pay of a king or great personage, as domestic servants. Also called check-roll, checker - roll. -15. Same as check - rein. -16. A pad on the back part of a pianoforte key, which catches the head of the hammer as it falls and prevents it from rebounding.-17. 5. To split, crack, or seam in seasoning or dry 4. In falconry, to forsake the prey and follow small birds, as a hawk: with at. Flatterers are kites That check at sparrows. Chapman, Bu y D'Ambois, iii. 1. Like the haggard, check at every feather That comes before his eye. Shak ., T. N., iii. 1. In mining , a slight fault or dislocation of the strata. See fault .-18. An alphabetic sound ed or varnished surfaces, and the like. produced with complete stoppage of the cur- rent of breath; a mute. Certified check. See cer- tify . Clerk of the check. (a) In the household of the ing, or by becoming too dry, as timber, paint British sovereign, an officer who has the control of the yeomen of the guard and all the ushers belonging to the royal family, the care of the watch, etc. (b) In the British royal dockyards, an officer who keeps a register of all the men employed in the public service at the port where he is stationed. Cro ed check, in Great Britain, a bank check having the words "and company" or any abbreviation thereof (usually "& Co.") written between two parallel lines acro its face. In this form it is cro ed gen erally, and can be used only by paying it into some bank. When the name of a bank is inserted before the words "& Co.," the check is cro ed specially, and can be used only by paying it into that bank, drawing against it by ordinary check if need be. Sometimes the words "not negotiable" are added. The object of this proceeding is to facilitate the tracing of checks if lost when sent by mail. Cro ed Checks Act, an English statute of 1876 (39 and 40 Vict., c. 81), which introduced "non-negotiable" checks, that is to say, instruments which are freely negotiable, but to which a bona-fide holder for value does not acquire a new and independent title, but can have only such title as his transferror had. A thief or finder can have no title, and therefore cannot convey one. Bules on Bills, 7th ed., 26. - Recoil-check, any device used to check2 (chek), n. Same as cheek, 2 (1). check3 (chek), n. Same as chack2. [Scotch.] check-book (chek'buk), n. A book containing blank checks on a bank or banker, or on the cashier of a busine establishment. The check forms are so printed that opposite each one there is a stub of paper which is left in the book when the check is detached, and on which it is usual to enter the date and amount of the check and the name of the payee, for the purpose of keeping an account of the transaction. check-bridge (chek'brij), n. See bridge1. check-chain (chek'chan), n. A chain connecting the body of a car to its truck, and designed to keep the latter from swinging transversely to the track if the wheels leave the rails.