Check

n. [Fr. échec, check, in the sense of No. 7, infra: a stop, hinderance, échecs, chess. See CHECK-MATE and CHESS.] 1. A sudden or continued restraint, physical or moral; a stop; a hinderance; an obstruction. “A remarkable check to the first progress of Christianity.” Addison. Useful checks upon the administration of government. Washington.

2. [From the Exchequer Chamber, where the king’s accounts were settled on a checkered cloth.] A mark put against items, as names, &c., in going over a list.
3. A token given to indentify a thing or person; as, a rail-way check for baggage.
4. (Com.) An order for money, drawn on a banker or on the cashier of a bank, payable on sight.
5. Any counter-register used as security, as the correspondent cipher of a bank-note; a corresponding indenture, &c.
6. A kind of checkered cloth, as plaids, &c.
7. (Chess.) The exposure of the king to the attack of an adversary’s piece, rendering necessary a change or guarding of his position.
8. (Falconry.) The forsaking by a hawk of its proper game, to follow other birds.

v. t. [imp. & p. p. CHECKED (chĕkt); p. pr. & vb. n. CHECKING.] [From the noun. See supra.] 1. To put a sudden or continued restraint upon; to hinder; to repress; to curb; to moderate. So many clogs to check and retard the headlong course of violence and oppression. Burke.

2. To rebuke, chide, or reprove. Shak.
3. To make a mark against, as against names, &c., in going over a list; as, to check a list of voters.
4. To compare with a counterpart or authority, in order to ascertain correctness or authenticity, as an account, or other paper.