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temperingmore about tempering

tempering

 

  3  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Temper  \Tem"per\,  v.  t.  [imp.  &  p.  p.  {Tempered};  p.  pr  &  vb 
  n.  {Tempering}.]  [AS.  temprian  or  OF  temper,  F.  temp['e]rer, 
  and  (in  sense  3)  temper,  L.  temperare,  akin  to  tempus  time. 
  Cf  {Temporal},  {Distemper},  {Tamper}.] 
  1.  To  mingle  in  due  proportion;  to  prepare  by  combining;  to 
  modify,  as  by  adding  some  new  element;  to  qualify,  as  by 
  an  ingredient;  hence  to  soften;  to  mollify;  to  assuage; 
  to  soothe;  to  calm. 
 
  Puritan  austerity  was  so  tempered  by  Dutch 
  indifference,  that  mercy  itself  could  not  have 
  dictated  a  milder  system.  --Bancroft. 
 
  Woman!  lovely  woman!  nature  made  thee  To  temper  man: 
  we  had  been  brutes  without  you  --Otway. 
 
  But  thy  fire  Shall  be  more  tempered,  and  thy  hope 
  far  higher.  --Byron. 
 
  She  [the  Goddess  of  Justice]  threw  darkness  and 
  clouds  about  her  that  tempered  the  light  into  a 
  thousand  beautiful  shades  and  colors.  --Addison. 
 
  2.  To  fit  together;  to  adjust  to  accomodate. 
 
  Thy  sustenance  .  .  .  serving  to  the  appetite  of  the 
  eater,  tempered  itself  to  every  man's  liking. 
  --Wisdom  xvi. 
  21. 
 
  3.  (Metal.)  To  bring  to  a  proper  degree  of  hardness;  as  to 
  temper  iron  or  steel. 
 
  The  tempered  metals  clash,  and  yield  a  silver  sound. 
  --Dryden. 
 
  4.  To  govern;  to  manage.  [A  Latinism  &  Obs.] 
 
  With  which  the  damned  ghosts  he  governeth  And 
  furies  rules  and  Tartare  tempereth  --Spenser. 
 
  5.  To  moisten  to  a  proper  consistency  and  stir  thoroughly,  as 
  clay  for  making  brick,  loam  for  molding,  etc 
 
  6.  (Mus.)  To  adjust  as  the  mathematical  scale  to  the  actual 
  scale,  or  to  that  in  actual  use 
 
  Syn:  To  soften;  mollify;  assuage;  soothe;  calm. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Tempering  \Tem"per*ing\,  n.  (Metal.) 
  The  process  of  giving  the  requisite  degree  of  hardness  or 
  softness  to  a  substance,  as  iron  and  steel;  especially,  the 
  process  of  giving  to  steel  the  degree  of  hardness  required 
  for  various  purposes,  consisting  usually  in  first  plunging 
  the  article,  when  heated  to  redness,  in  cold  water  or  other 
  liquid,  to  give  an  excess  of  hardness,  and  then  reheating  it 
  gradually  until  the  hardness  is  reduced  or  drawn  down  to  the 
  degree  required,  as  indicated  by  the  color  produced  on  a 
  polished  portion,  or  by  the  burning  of  oil. 
 
  {Tempering  color},  the  shade  of  color  that  indicates  the 
  degree  of  temper  in  tempering  steel,  as  pale  straw  yellow 
  for  lancets,  razors,  and  tools  for  metal;  dark  straw 
  yellow  for  penknives,  screw  taps,  etc.;  brown  yellow  for 
  axes,  chisels,  and  plane  irons;  yellow  tinged  with  purple 
  for  table  knives  and  shears;  purple  for  swords  and  watch 
  springs;  blue  for  springs  and  saws;  and  very  pale  blue 
  tinged  with  green,  too  soft  for  steel  instruments. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  tempering 
  adj  :  moderating  by  making  more  temperate 
  n  :  hardening  something  by  heat  treatment  [syn:  {annealing}]




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