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.
2. Constitution of body; temperament; in old writers, the
mixture or relative proportion of the four humors, blood,
choler, phlegm, and melancholy.
The exquisiteness of his [Christ's] bodily temper
increased the exquisiteness of his torment.
--Fuller.
3. Disposition of mind; the constitution of the mind,
particularly with regard to the passions and affections;
as, a calm temper; a hasty temper; a fretful temper.
Remember with what mild And gracious temper he both
heared and judged. --Milton.
The consequents of a certain ethical temper. --J. H.
Newman.
4. Calmness of mind; moderation; equanimity; composure; as,
to keep one's temper.
To fall with dignity, with temper rise. --Pope.
Restore yourselves to your tempers, fathers. --B.
Jonson.
5. Heat of mind or passion; irritation; proneness to anger;
-- in a reproachful sense. [Colloq.]
6. The state of a metal or other substance, especially as to
its hardness, produced by some process of heating or
cooling; as, the temper of iron or steel.
7. Middle state or course; mean; medium. [R.]
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.
--Macaulay.
8. (Sugar Works) Milk of lime, or other substance, employed
in the process formerly used to clarify sugar.
{Temper screw}, in deep well boring, an adjusting screw
connecting the working beam with the rope carrying the
tools, for lowering the tools as the drilling progresses.
Syn: Disposition; temperament; frame; humor; mood. See
{Disposition}.
2. To have or get a proper or desired state or quality; to
grow soft and pliable.
I have him already tempering between my finger and
my thumb, and shortly will I seal with him. --Shak.