'Distempering' definitions:

Definition of 'Distempering'

From: GCIDE
  • Distemper \Dis*tem"per\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Distempered; p. pr. & vb. n. Distempering.] [OF. destemprer, destremper, to distemper, F. d['e]tremper to soak, soften, slake (lime); pref. des- (L. dis-) + OF. temprer, tremper, F. tremper, L. temperare to mingle in due proportion. See Temper, and cf. Destemprer.]
  • 1. To temper or mix unduly; to make disproportionate; to change the due proportions of. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
  • When . . . the humors in his body ben distempered. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. To derange the functions of, whether bodily, mental, or spiritual; to disorder; to disease. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • The imagination, when completely distempered, is the most incurable of all disordered faculties. --Buckminster. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. To deprive of temper or moderation; to disturb; to ruffle; to make disaffected, ill-humored, or malignant. "Distempered spirits." --Coleridge. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. To intoxicate. [R.] [1913 Webster]
  • The courtiers reeling, And the duke himself, I dare not say distempered, But kind, and in his tottering chair carousing. --Massinger. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. (Paint.) To mix (colors) in the way of distemper; as, to distemper colors with size. [R.] [1913 Webster]

Words containing 'Distempering'