Meaning of temper | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A general tendency or orientation towards a certain type of mood, a volatile state; a habitual way of thinking, behaving or reacting.
   countable, uncountable
2. State of mind; mood.
   countable, uncountable
3. A tendency to become angry.
   countable, uncountable
4. Anger; a fit of anger.
   countable, uncountable
5. Calmness of mind; moderation; equanimity; composure.
   countable, uncountable
6. Constitution of body; the mixture or relative proportion of the four humours: blood, choler, phlegm, and melancholy.
   countable, obsolete, uncountable
7. Middle state or course; mean; medium.
   countable, uncountable
8. The state of any compound substance which results from the mixture of various ingredients; due mixture of different qualities.
   countable, uncountable
9. The heat treatment to which a metal or other material has been subjected; a material that has undergone a particular heat treatment.
   countable, uncountable
10. The state of a metal or other substance, especially as to its hardness, produced by some process of heating or cooling.
    countable, uncountable
11. Milk of lime, or other substance, employed in the process formerly used to clarify sugar.
    countable, historical, uncountable
12. A non-plastic material, such as sand, added to clay to prevent shrinkage and cracking during drying or firing; tempering.
    countable, uncountable

Equivalents

Examples

“to have a good, bad, or calm temper”

“A noble temper dost thou show in this;”

“And it was peculiar in their Temper, that they were fonder of what they could get by Rapine or Stealth at a greater diſtance, than much better Food provided for them at home.”

“[…] when she smiled, the Sweetness of her Temper diffused that Glory over her Countenance, which no Regularity of Features can give.”

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

“[…] Amy smiled without bitterness, for she possessed a happy temper and hopeful spirit.”

“[…] it appeared as if to be alone in the great house of his fathers suited his temper.”

“Remember with what mild / And gracious temper he both heard and judg’d / Without wrauth or reviling;”

“[…] I must testify from my Experience, that a Temper of Peace, Thankfulness, Love and Affection, is much more the proper Frame for Prayer than that of Terror and Discomposure;”

“[H]er temper was fluctuating; joy for a few instants shone in her eyes, but it continually gave place to distraction and reverie.”

“‘You should be careful not to irritate her, James. Her temper has been soured, remember, and ought not to be tried.’”

“She bowed to him, to put him in a good temper.”

“to have a hasty temper”

“He has quite a temper when dealing with salespeople.”

““I guess you’ve got a spice of temper,” commented Mr. Harrison, surveying the flushed cheeks and indignant eyes opposite him.”

“‘What a temper you’ve got, Wormold.’ ‘I’m sorry. Drink takes me that way.’”

“His criticism of Inés makes him bristle. Nonetheless, he holds his temper in check.”

“an outburst of temper”

“When I heard about it I got myself into a terrible temper.”

“Hortense remained for several days in a condition of sullen anger—she was a cloud lit up by occasional unaccountable flashes of temper.”

“Jill suddenly flew into a temper (which is quite a likely thing to happen if you have been interrupted in a cry).”

“[…] she banged the door as she left as though in temper and walked to her car.”

“to keep one's temper; to lose one's temper; to recover one's temper”

“Reſtore your ſelues, vnto your temper, Fathers; / And, vvithout perturbation, heare me ſpeake: […]”

“Teach me like thee, in various Nature wiſe, / To fall with Dignity, with Temper riſe; [...]”

““And I think, madam,” said the Lord Keeper, losing his accustomed temper and patience, “that if you had nothing better to tell us, you had better have kept this family secret to yourself also.””

“[H]er temper was rarely ruffled, and, if we might judge by her appearance, she was always happy.”

“Afore we got to the shanty Colonel Applegate stuck his head out of the door. His temper had been getting raggeder all the time, and the sousing he got when he fell overboard had just about ripped what was left of it to ravellings.”

“[…] it is hard to say, whether [Christ’s] pain was more shamefull, or his shame more painfull unto him: the exquisiteness of his bodily temper, increasing the exquisiteness of his torment, and the ingenuity of his Soul, adding to his sensibleness of the indignities and affronts offered until him.”

“The perfect lawgiver is a just temper between the mere man of theory, who can see nothing but general principles, and the mere man of business, who can see nothing but particular circumstances.”

“the temper of mortar”

“the temper of iron or steel”

“Between two blades, which bears the better temper: […] / I have perhaps some shallow spirit of judgement; / But in these nice sharp quillets of the law, / Good faith, I am no wiser than a daw.”

“1803, John Browne Cutting, “A Succinct History of Jamaica” in Robert Charles Dallas, The History of the Maroons, London: Longman and Rees, Volume 1, pp. xciv-xcv, All cane juice is liable to rapid fermentation. As soon, therefore, as the clarifier is filled, the fire is lighted, and the temper (white lime of Bristol) is stirred into it. The alkali of the lime having neutralized its superabundant acid, a part of it becomes the basis of the sugar.”

CEFR level