A string by which the occupant of a carriage may signal to the driver to stop.
1774. Colman, Man of Business, III. 35 (D.). The young man was in the high road to destruction, and driving at such a rate that he must soon have overset the whole undertaking.—It was time to pull the check-string.
1796. Felton, Carriages, Gloss., Check String, a worsted line, by which the coachman has notice to stop.
1845. Mrs. Carlyle, Lett., I. 358. In passing along Brompton Road, he suddenly pulled the check-string.
