1. (

• pique ,
• temper ,
• irritation ,

) a sudden outburst of anger; "his temper sparked like damp firewood" ;

2. (

• temper ,
• mood ,
• humor ,
• humour

) a characteristic (habitual or relatively temporary) state of feeling; "whether he praised or cursed me depended on his temper at the time"; "he was in a bad humor" ;

3. (

• temper ,
• biliousness ,
• irritability ,
• peevishness ,
• pettishness ,
• snappishness ,
• surliness

) a disposition to exhibit uncontrolled anger; "his temper was well known to all his employees" ;

4. (

• temper ,
• toughness ,

) the elasticity and hardness of a metal object; its ability to absorb considerable energy before cracking ;

1. (

• anneal ,
• temper ,
• normalize ,

) bring to a desired consistency, texture, or hardness by a process of gradually heating and cooling; "temper glass" ;

2. (

• temper ,
• harden ,

) harden by reheating and cooling in oil; "temper steel" ;

3. (

• temper ,

) adjust the pitch (of pianos) ;

4. (

• temper ,
• season ,
• mollify ,
• moderate ,

) make more temperate, acceptable, or suitable by adding something else; "she tempered her criticism" ;

5. (

• chasten ,
• temper ,

) change by restraining or moderating ;