Both Uses of
tempered
in
The Hot Zone
- He was a calm, even-tempered man with a kind of dreamy nature; a man given to staring out the window of his office, thinking about one thing or another.†
p. 159.9 *even-tempered = not easily angered or upset
- It took them two hours to reach the monkey house, contending the whole way with ill-tempered commuters.†
p. 289.5
Definitions:
-
(1)
(tempered as in: bad news tempered by kindness) made less extreme
-
(2)
(tempered as in: tempered steel) made stronger or more flexible by heat treatment -- often of steel or glass
-
(3)
(tempered as in: short-tempered) having a typical mood or temperament -- often in reference to how easily one is angered