Temper
['tempə] or ['tɛmpɚ]
Definition
(noun.) a disposition to exhibit uncontrolled anger; 'his temper was well known to all his employees'.
(noun.) the elasticity and hardness of a metal object; its ability to absorb considerable energy before cracking.
(noun.) a characteristic (habitual or relatively temporary) state of feeling; 'whether he praised or cursed me depended on his temper at the time'; 'he was in a bad humor'.
(verb.) make more temperate, acceptable, or suitable by adding something else; moderate; 'she tempered her criticism'.
(verb.) adjust the pitch (of pianos).
(verb.) harden by reheating and cooling in oil; 'temper steel'.
Editor: Rosalie--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To mingle in due proportion; to prepare by combining; to modify, as by adding some new element; to qualify, as by an ingredient; hence, to soften; to mollify; to assuage; to soothe; to calm.
(v. t.) To fit together; to adjust; to accomodate.
(v. t.) To bring to a proper degree of hardness; as, to temper iron or steel.
(v. t.) To govern; to manage.
(v. t.) To moisten to a proper consistency and stir thoroughly, as clay for making brick, loam for molding, etc.
(v. t.) To adjust, as the mathematical scale to the actual scale, or to that in actual use.
(n.) The state of any compound substance which results from the mixture of various ingredients; due mixture of different qualities; just combination; as, the temper of mortar.
(n.) Constitution of body; temperament; in old writers, the mixture or relative proportion of the four humors, blood, choler, phlegm, and melancholy.
(n.) Disposition of mind; the constitution of the mind, particularly with regard to the passions and affections; as, a calm temper; a hasty temper; a fretful temper.
(n.) Calmness of mind; moderation; equanimity; composure; as, to keep one's temper.
(n.) Heat of mind or passion; irritation; proneness to anger; -- in a reproachful sense.
(n.) The state of a metal or other substance, especially as to its hardness, produced by some process of heating or cooling; as, the temper of iron or steel.
(n.) Middle state or course; mean; medium.
(n.) Milk of lime, or other substance, employed in the process formerly used to clarify sugar.
(v. i.) To accord; to agree; to act and think in conformity.
(v. i.) To have or get a proper or desired state or quality; to grow soft and pliable.
Editor: Warren
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Modify, qualify, mix in due proportion.[2]. Soften, mollify, assuage, soothe, calm, moderate, restrain, pacify, attemper.[3]. Adapt, fit, suit, adjust, accommodate.[4]. Bring to the right degree of hardness (as iron, by sudden cooling).[5]. Anneal.
n. [1]. Due mixture, just combination.[2]. Constitution, temperament, nature, organization.[3]. Disposition, humor, frame, mood, grain.[4]. Calmness, moderation, equanimity, composure.[5]. Degree of hardness.[6]. [Colloquial.] Anger, passion, irritation.
Editor: Spence
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Modify, accommodate, qualify, soften, assuage, soothe, adapt, restrain,[See_IMPOST]
SYN:Temperament, disposition, constitution, frame, mood, spirit, irritability,heat, humor, passion
Editor: Pratt
Definition
v.t. to mix in due proportion: to modify by blending or mixture: to moderate: to soften: to bring to a proper degree of hardness and elasticity as steel: to amend or adjust as a false or imperfect concord.—n. due mixture or balance or different or contrary qualities: state of a metal as to hardness &c.: constitution of the body: constitutional frame or state of mind esp. with regard to feelings disposition temperament mood: passion irritation: calmness or moderation: in sugar-works lime or other substance used to neutralise the acidity of cane-juice.—adjs. Tem′perable capable of being tempered; Tem′pered having a certain specified disposition or temper: brought to a certain temper as steel: (mus.) tuned or adjusted to some mean or to equal temperament.—adv. Tem′peredly.—ns. Tem′perer; Tem′pering the process of giving the required degree of hardness or softness to iron or steel by heating to redness and cooling in different ways.
Typist: Louis
Unserious Contents or Definition
A quality, the loss of which is likely to make a knife blade dull and a woman's tongue sharp.
Typist: Oliver
Examples
- She had been all sweetness and kindness, always thankful, always gentle, even when Mrs. Clapp lost her own temper and pressed for the rent. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- If the woman's fierce temper once got beyond her control, and once flamed out on me, she might yet say the words which would put the clue in my hands. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- Samuel Edison, versatile, buoyant of temper, and ever optimistic, would thus appear to have pitched his tent with shrewd judgment. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- It appeared, indeed, from the countenance of this proprietor, that he was of a frank, but hasty and choleric temper. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- He rather liked him for it; and he was conscious of his own irritability of temper at the time, which probably made them both quits. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- My Dear: I write a little word to tell you with how much satisfaction I watch your efforts to control your temper. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- This temper now entered like a virus into the firm, and there were cruel eruptions. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- And what a sweet-tempered forehead he has! Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- She is pretty, and she is good tempered, and that is all. Jane Austen. Emma.
- You must not be angry with me, my friend, he said volubly; I am like a child, and grow bad-tempered over nothing. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- Miret, the short-tempered and kind-hearted bookseller, who had so kindly found me a seat that eventful night in the park. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- Jane, I am not a gentle-tempered man--you forget that: I am not long- enduring; I am not cool and dispassionate. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- He was a mild, good-natured, sweet-tempered, easy-going, foolish, dear fellow,--a sort of Hercules in strength, and also in weakness. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- A deficient, ill-tempered, lowering, stupid fellow. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- Your tempers are by no means unlike. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- You do not know what it is to have tempers to manage. Jane Austen. Emma.
- Our tempers certainly did exactly suit each other; and the love must ever predominate on one side, or there will be an end of all stimulus. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- If their skill and their fires will stand it, their tempers won't. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- She and Amy had had many lively skirmishes in the course of their lives, for both had quick tempers and were apt to be violent when fairly roused. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- You forget yourself: there is a decided difference in your tempers, I allow. Jane Austen. Mansfield Park.
- If we're all the raw stuff of the cosmic effects, one would rather be the fire that tempers a sword than the fish that dyes a purple cloak. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- In _annealing_ and _tempering_, electricity has also been employed as a means of heating (see patent to Shaw, No. 211,938, February 4, 1879). Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- The plate is then taken to be Harveyized by cementation, hardening, and tempering, as seen in Figs. 260, 261, and 262. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- Showing a shaft weighing about 33,000 pounds being taken from the vertical heating furnace and suspended over the oil-tank preparatory to being lowered for tempering. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- Welding by Electricity, and Tempering and Annealing. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
Inputed by Cole