/ ˈtempə(r); NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
1.
[ C , usually sing. , U ] if sb has a temper , they become angry very easily :
a violent / short / quick, etc. temper
He must learn to control his temper .
She broke the plates in a fit of temper .
After an hour of waiting, tempers began to fray (= people began to get angry) .
2.
[ C , usually sing. ] a short period of feeling very angry :
to fly into a temper
She says awful things when she's in a temper .
3.
[ C ] the way that you are feeling at a particular time
SYN mood :
Come back when you're in a better temper.
to be in a bad, foul, etc. temper
4.
-tempered (in adjectives) having a particular type of temper :
good- / bad-tempered
a sweet-tempered child
HELP NOTE : You will find other compounds ending in -tempered at their place in the alphabet.
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IDIOMS
- lose / keep your temper (with sb)
—more at quick adjective
■ verb [ vn ]
1.
temper sth (with sth) ( formal ) to make sth less severe by adding sth that has the opposite effect :
Justice must be tempered with mercy.
2.
( technical ) to make metal as hard as it needs to be by heating and then cooling it
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WORD 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 senses 1 to 3 ( late Middle English ). Compare with temperament .