out of temper Definition

temper
noun

1. A characteristic state of mind; mood or humour.

Example: have an even temper
Thesaurus: disposition, state of mind, humour, mood, attitude, feeling, constitution, disposition, nature, passion, temperament.
2. A state of calm; composure; self-control.

Example: lose one's temper
3. A state of uncontrolled anger.

Example: in a temper
4. A tendency to have fits of uncontrolled anger.

Example: She has quite a temper
Thesaurus: irascibility, irritability, ill humour, churlishness, impatience, excitability, grouchiness, peevishness, huffiness, crossness, touchiness, cantankerousness, acerbity; Antonym: patience, calmness, equanimity.
5. The degree of hardness and toughness of metal or glass.

verb tempered, tempering

1. To soften something or make it less severe.

Example: temper firmness with understanding
Thesaurus: qualify, moderate, soften, mitigate, pacify, appease, compromise, abate, mollify, ease, curb, restrain.
2. engineering.
To heat a metal, hardened alloy (eg steel) or glass to a certain temperature and then allow it to cool slowly, in order to toughen it by reducing its hardness and making it less brittle.
3. To bring clay, plaster or mortar to the desired consistency by moistening it with water and kneading it.
4. To tune (the notes on a keyboard instrument) so that the intervals between them are correct.

Idiom: out of temper

Irritable; peevish; fractious.

Etymology: Anglo-Saxon temprian: from Latin temperare to mix in due proportion.