Puritan austerity was so tempered by Dutch
indifference, that mercy itself could not have
dictated a milder system. --Bancroft.
Woman! lovely woman! nature made thee To temper man:
we had been brutes without you. --Otway.
But thy fire Shall be more tempered, and thy hope
far higher. --Byron.
She [the Goddess of Justice] threw darkness and
clouds about her, that tempered the light into a
thousand beautiful shades and colors. --Addison.
2. To fit together; to adjust; to accomodate.
Thy sustenance . . . serving to the appetite of the
eater, tempered itself to every man's liking.
--Wisdom xvi.
21.
3. (Metal.) To bring to a proper degree of hardness; as, to
temper iron or steel.
The tempered metals clash, and yield a silver sound.
--Dryden.
4. To govern; to manage. [A Latinism & Obs.]
With which the damned ghosts he governeth, And
furies rules, and Tartare tempereth. --Spenser.
5. To moisten to a proper consistency and stir thoroughly, as
clay for making brick, loam for molding, etc.
6. (Mus.) To adjust, as the mathematical scale to the actual
scale, or to that in actual use.
Syn: To soften; mollify; assuage; soothe; calm.