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temper

Pronunciation: /ˈtɛmpə/

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Definition of temper

noun

  • 1 [in singular] a person’s state of mind seen in terms of their being angry or calm:he rushed out in a very bad temper
  • a tendency to become angry easily:I know my temper gets the better of me at times
  • an angry state of mind:Drew had walked out in a temper [mass noun]:I only said it in a fit of temper
  • 2 [mass noun] the degree of hardness and elasticity in steel or other metal: the blade rapidly heats up and the metal loses its temper

verb

[with object]
  • 1improve the hardness and elasticity of (steel or other metal) by reheating and then cooling it: the way a smith would temper a sword (as adjective tempered)tempered steel pins
  • improve the consistency or resiliency of (a substance) by heating it or adding particular substances to it: hardboard tempered with oil or resin is more durable
  • 2act as a neutralizing or counterbalancing force to (something):their idealism is tempered with realism
  • 3tune (a piano or other instrument) so as to adjust the note intervals correctly.

Phrases

keep (or lose) one's temper

retain (or fail to retain) composure when angry: it took all her patience to keep her temper

out of temper

in an irritable mood: on waking each day she had been out of temper

Derivatives

temperer

noun

Origin:

Old English temprian 'bring something into the required condition by mixing it with something else', from Latin temperare 'mingle, restrain'. Sense development was probably influenced by Old French temprer 'to temper, moderate'. The noun originally denoted a proportionate mixture of elements or qualities, also the combination of the four bodily humours, believed in medieval times to be the basis of temperament, hence temper (sense 1 of the noun) (late Middle English). Compare with temperament

temper in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of temper in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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/ ˈlɛpərʌɪn /
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