Meaning & use
dual control
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountabletechnical
A setup in which a vehicle or machine has two sets of controls so that two people can operate or take over it.
Grammar: Usually uncountable; also used before a noun: a dual-control car.
Patterns
- a car with dual control
- dual control for something
My driving instructor's car has dual control, so he can brake if I panic.
Training aircraft usually have dual control so the teacher can take over.
The old tractor was converted to dual control for the farm's apprentices.
noununcountableformalrare
A system in which authority or power over something is held jointly by two people or groups.
Grammar: Used figuratively and rarely; the two parties share decisions: the company is under dual control.
Patterns
- under dual control
- dual control of something
The region was under dual control of the two armies for a decade.
Dual control of the account means two signatures are needed to move money.
The partnership works under dual control, so neither founder can act alone.
Common combinations
- dual-control car
- Learners usually practice in a dual-control car.
- fitted with dual control
- The training jet was fitted with dual control.
- under dual control
- The vault is under dual control for security.
- dual control pedals
- The instructor pressed the dual control pedals to stop the car.
Synonyms and how they differ
- joint control
- Joint control is the general phrase for shared authority and fits the second sense better than machine controls.
- shared control
- Shared control sounds more natural for people and organizations, and less technical than dual control.
- dual pedals
- Dual pedals refers only to the physical second set of pedals in a car, not the wider system.
Opposites
Word family
- dual adjective
- consisting of two parts
- control noun
- the power to direct or operate something
- controller noun
- a person or device that controls something
- duality noun
- the state of having two parts or aspects
Commonly confused: dual control or double control?
dual control vs double control
Double control is not the standard term; people say dual control for a car with two sets of pedals.
Practice
The driving school's cars have ___, so the instructor can use the brake if the learner makes a mistake.
Choose one answer.
Two sets of controls for two people is dual control. Cruise control and remote control are real but do not give the instructor a second brake pedal.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “dual control”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.