temper (redirected from tempering)

keep one's temper and hold one's temper

to hold back an expression of anger. (The opposite of lose one's temper.) She should have learned to keep her temper when she was a child. Sally got thrown off the team because she couldn't hold her temper.

See also: keep

lose one's temper (at someone or something)

Fig. to become angry at someone or something. Lisa lost her temper and began shouting at Bob. I hate to lose my temper at someone. I always end up feeling guilty.

See also: lose

quick temper and short temper; short fuse

a bad temper that can be easily aroused. Tyler has a quick temper and doesn't mind letting everyone see it.

See also: quick

temper something with something 

1. Fig. to harden something, such as metal, with something. You have to temper the metal pieces with very high heat. The sheet of metal was tempered by the application of great pressure.

2. Fig. to soften the impact of something, such as news, with something. We can temper this disaster story a bit with a picture of the happy survivors. The news story was tempered with a paragraph of explanation and justification.

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tempers fray  also tempers become frayed

if tempers fray among a group of people, they all become angry Tempers frayed when, after waiting for hours, we were told there were no tickets left.

See also: fray

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lose your temper

to become very angry If she contradicted him now, he would lose his temper and his blood pressure would shoot up.

See also: lose