TEMPER

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does temper mean? 

• TEMPER (noun)
  The noun TEMPER has 4 senses:

1. a sudden outburst of anger

2. a characteristic (habitual or relatively temporary) state of feeling

3. a disposition to exhibit uncontrolled anger

4. the elasticity and hardness of a metal object; its ability to absorb considerable energy before cracking

  Familiarity information: TEMPER used as a noun is uncommon.

• TEMPER (verb)
  The verb TEMPER has 5 senses:

1. bring to a desired consistency, texture, or hardness by a process of gradually heating and cooling

2. harden by reheating and cooling in oil

3. adjust the pitch (of pianos)

4. make more temperate, acceptable, or suitable by adding something else

5. change by restraining or moderating

  Familiarity information: TEMPER used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TEMPER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A sudden outburst of anger

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Synonyms:

irritation; pique; temper

Context example:

his temper sparked like damp firewood

Hypernyms ("temper" is a kind of...):

annoyance; chafe; vexation (anger produced by some annoying irritation)

Derivation:

temper (change by restraining or moderating)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A characteristic (habitual or relatively temporary) state of feeling

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Synonyms:

humor; humour; mood; temper

Context example:

he was in a bad humor

Hypernyms ("temper" is a kind of...):

feeling (the experiencing of affective and emotional states)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "temper"):

peeve (an annoyed or irritated mood)

sulk; sulkiness (a mood or display of sullen aloofness or withdrawal)

amiability; good humor; good humour; good temper (a cheerful and agreeable mood)

distemper; ill humor; ill humour (an angry and disagreeable mood)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A disposition to exhibit uncontrolled anger

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

biliousness; irritability; peevishness; pettishness; snappishness; surliness; temper

Context example:

his temper was well known to all his employees

Hypernyms ("temper" is a kind of...):

ill nature (a disagreeable, irritable, or malevolent disposition)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "temper"):

querulousness (the quality of being given to complaining)

Derivation:

temper (change by restraining or moderating)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The elasticity and hardness of a metal object; its ability to absorb considerable energy before cracking

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

temper; toughness

Hypernyms ("temper" is a kind of...):

elasticity; snap (the tendency of a body to return to its original shape after it has been stretched or compressed)

Derivation:

temper (harden by reheating and cooling in oil)

temper (bring to a desired consistency, texture, or hardness by a process of gradually heating and cooling)

• TEMPER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they temper    ... he / she / it tempers   
Past simple: tempered   
Past participle: tempered   
-ing form: tempering   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Bring to a desired consistency, texture, or hardness by a process of gradually heating and cooling

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

anneal; normalize; temper

Context example:

temper glass

Hypernyms (to "temper" is one way to...):

harden; indurate (make hard or harder)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

temper (the elasticity and hardness of a metal object; its ability to absorb considerable energy before cracking)

temperance (the act of tempering)

tempering (hardening something by heat treatment)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Harden by reheating and cooling in oil

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

harden; temper

Context example:

temper steel

Hypernyms (to "temper" is one way to...):

modify (make less severe or harsh or extreme)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

temper (the elasticity and hardness of a metal object; its ability to absorb considerable energy before cracking)

temperance (the act of tempering)

tempering (hardening something by heat treatment)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Adjust the pitch (of pianos)

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "temper" is one way to...):

adjust; correct; set (alter or regulate so as to achieve accuracy or conform to a standard)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Make more temperate, acceptable, or suitable by adding something else

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

moderate; mollify; season; temper

Context example:

she tempered her criticism

Hypernyms (to "temper" is one way to...):

weaken (lessen the strength of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Change by restraining or moderating

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

chasten; temper

Hypernyms (to "temper" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

temper (a disposition to exhibit uncontrolled anger)

temper (a sudden outburst of anger)

 Context examples 

Excepting yourself and your brother, I do not know his equal for temper.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I am of a cautious temper, and unwilling to risk my happiness in a hurry.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

His circumstances are now unembarrassed—he suffers from no evil of that kind; and he thinks only that he has married a woman of a less amiable temper than yourself.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

Many people have short tempers and get angry easily.

(Coping with Disasters, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

At last I fairly lost my temper.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Then my temper got the better of me, and I began to threaten her.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Her mind was less difficult to develop. She was a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

He seems to have a calm decided temper, not at all open to dangerous impressions.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

The small woman was in a furious temper.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)