temper
/ˈtɛmpə/ · tem·per
noun
- A tendency to be in a certain type of mood; a habitual way of thinking, behaving or reacting. She has a good temper and never gets angry.
- State of mind; mood. His temper was calm and collected.
- A tendency to become angry. He has quite a temper when dealing with salespeople.
verb
- To moderate or control. Temper your language around children.
- To strengthen or toughen a material, especially metal, by heat treatment; anneal. Tempering is a heat treatment technique applied to metals, alloys, and glass to achieve greater toughness by increasing the strength of materials and/or ductility.
- To sauté spices in ghee or oil to release essential oils for flavouring a dish in South Asian cuisine. Tempering the spices brought out the full flavor of the curry.
Did you know? The phrase 'lose one's temper' is a common idiom that means to become angry or lose control of one's emotions, often resulting in regrettable actions or words.