tamper (v.)

"meddle, interfere," 1560s, figurative use of tamper "to work in clay, etc., so as to mix it thoroughly," probably originally a variant of temper (v.), which is how it often was spelled at first. Perhaps it is a dialectal workmen's pronunciation. Related: Tampered; tampering.

tamper (n.)

"one who or that which tamps," 1864, agent noun from tamp (v.).

Entries linking to tamper

tamp (v.)

1819, "to fill (a hole containing an explosive) with dirt or clay before blasting," a workmen's word, perhaps a back-formation from tampion, that word being mistaken as a present participle (*tamping).

temper (v.)

late Old English temprian "to moderate, bring to a proper or suitable state, to modify some excessive quality, to restrain within due limits," from Latin temperare "observe proper measure, be moderate, restrain oneself," also transitive, "mix correctly, mix in due proportion; regulate, rule, govern, manage." This is often described as from Latin tempus "time, season" (see temporal), with a sense of "proper time or season." But as the root sense of tempus seems to be "stretch," the words in the "restrain, modify" sense might be from a semantic shift from "stretching" to "measuring" (compare temple (n.1)). Meaning "to make (steel) hard and elastic" is from late 14c. Sense of "tune the pitch of a musical instrument" is recorded from c. 1300. Related: Tempered; tempering.

tamper-proof (adj.)

also tamperproof, 1886, from tamper (v.) + proof.

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Definitions of tamper

tamper (v.)

play around with or alter or falsify, usually secretively or dishonestly;

Someone tampered with the documents on my desk

Synonyms: fiddle / monkey

tamper (v.)

intrude in other people's affairs or business; interfere unwantedly;

Synonyms: meddle

tamper (n.)

a tool for tamping (e.g., for tamping tobacco into a pipe bowl or a charge into a drill hole etc.);

Synonyms: tamp / tamping bar

From wordnet.princeton.edu

Dictionary entries near tamper

Tammany

Tammuz

tam-o'-shanter

tamp

Tampa

tamper

tamper-proof

tampion

tampon

tan

tanager