temper

tem|per¹ [ˈtempə US -ər] n

1.) [U and C]

a tendency to become angry suddenly or easily

▪ That temper of hers will get her into trouble one of these days.

▪ According to Nathan, Robin has quite a temper .

▪ Theo needs to learn to control his temper .

quick/bad/fiery etc temper

▪ Be careful, he's got a pretty violent temper.

tempers flare also tempers become frayed

BrE (=people become angry)

▪ Mason's temper flared when he spotted his girlfriend kissing another man.

2.) lose your temper

to suddenly become very angry so that you cannot control yourself

▪ I've never seen Vic lose his temper.

3.) [singular, U]

the way you are feeling at a particular time, especially when you are feeling angry for a short time

in a temper

▪ It's no use talking to him when he's in a temper.

▪ Pete hit his brother in a fit of temper .

be in a bad/foul temper

(=to be angry)

▪ Watch out - she's been in a foul temper all day.

fly into a temper

▪ Her boss would fly into a temper if a project wasn't done on time.

4.) keep your temper

to stay calm when it would be easy to get angry

▪ I was finding it increasingly difficult to keep my temper.

5.) good-tempered/foul-tempered/quick-tempered etc

having a good, bad temper etc

▪ Minnie was always good-tempered and agreeable.

6.) [singular] formal

the general attitude that people have in a particular place at one time

temper of

▪ the temper of life in Renaissance Italy

→↑bad-tempered, ↑even-tempered, ↑ill-tempered

temper ²

temper² v [T]

[Date: 900-1000; : Latin; Origin: temperare 'to divide up properly, mix, keep within proper limits, temper']

1.) formal to make something less severe or extreme

temper sth with/by sth

▪ The heat in this coastal town is tempered by cool sea breezes.

2.) to make metal as hard as is needed by heating it and then putting it in cold water

▪ tempered steel