control vs rule

control

noun
  • A control group or control experiment. 

  • A duplicate book, register, or account, kept to correct or check another account or register. 

  • An interface element that a computer user interacts with, such as a window or a text box (abbreviated Ctrl). 

  • Influence or authority over something. 

  • A checkpoint along an audax route. 

  • A means of monitoring for, and triggering intervention in, activities that are not going according to plan. 

  • The method and means of governing the performance of any apparatus, machine or system, such as a lever, handle or button. 

  • Restraint or ability to contain one's movements or emotions, or self-control. 

  • A security mechanism, policy, or procedure that can counter system attack, reduce risks, and resolve vulnerabilities; a safeguard or countermeasure. 

  • A spirit that takes possession of a psychic or medium and allows other spirits to communicate with the living. 

  • A construction in which the understood subject of a given predicate is determined by an expression in context. See control. 

  • Any of the physical factors determining the climate of a place, such as latitude, distribution of land and water, altitude, exposure, prevailing winds, permanent high- or low-barometric-pressure areas, ocean currents, mountain barriers, soil, and vegetation. 

verb
  • (construed with for) To design (an experiment) so that the effects of one or more variables are reduced or eliminated. 

  • to hold in check, to curb, to restrain 

  • To exercise influence over; to suggest or dictate the behavior of. 

rule

noun
  • A regulating principle. 

  • A determinate method prescribed for performing any operation and producing a certain result. 

  • A ruler; device for measuring, a straightedge, a measure. 

  • A normal condition or state of affairs. 

  • A regulation, law, guideline. 

  • An order regulating the practice of the courts, or an order made between parties to an action or a suit. 

  • A straight line (continuous mark, as made by a pen or the like), especially one lying across a paper as a guide for writing. 

  • The act of ruling; administration of law; government; empire; authority; control. 

verb
  • To establish or settle by, or as by, a rule; to fix by universal or general consent, or by common practice. 

  • To regulate, be in charge of, make decisions for, reign over. 

  • To decide judicially. 

  • To mark (paper or the like) with rules (lines). 

  • To excel. 

How often have the words control and rule occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )