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Temperature   /tˈɛmprətʃər/  /tˈɛmpərətʃər/   Listen
noun
Temperature  n.  
1.
Constitution; state; degree of any quality. "The best composition and temperature is, to have openness in fame and opinion, secrecy in habit, dissimulation in seasonable use, and a power to feign, if there be no remedy." "Memory depends upon the consistence and the temperature of the brain."
2.
Freedom from passion; moderation. (Obs.) "In that proud port, which her so goodly graceth, Most goodly temperature you may descry."
3.
(Physics) Condition with respect to heat or cold, especially as indicated by the sensation produced, or by the thermometer or pyrometer; degree of heat or cold; as, the temperature of the air; high temperature; low temperature; temperature of freezing or of boiling. Note: The temperature of a liquid or a solid body as measured by a thermometer is a measure of the average kinetic energy of the consituent atoms or molecules of the body. For other states of matter such as plasma, electromagnetic radiation, or subatomic particles, an analogous measure of the average kinetic energy may be expressed as a temperature, although it could never be measured by a traditional thermometer, let alone by sensing with the skin.
4.
Mixture; compound. (Obs.) "Made a temperature of brass and iron together."
5.
(Physiol. & Med.) The degree of heat of the body of a living being, esp. of the human body; also (Colloq.), loosely, the excess of this over the normal (of the human body 98°-99.5° F., in the mouth of an adult about 98.4°).
Absolute temperature. (Physics) See under Absolute.
Animal temperature (Physiol.), the nearly constant temperature maintained in the bodies of warm-blooded (homoiothermal) animals during life. The ultimate source of the heat is to be found in the potential energy of the food and the oxygen which is absorbed from the air during respiration. See Homoiothermal.
Temperature sense (Physiol.), the faculty of perceiving cold and warmth, and so of perceiving differences of temperature in external objects.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Temperature" Quotes from Famous Books



... dark eyes, olive complexion, and usually by a long, athletic form of body. It is remarkable for concentrativeness of design and affections, strong gravity, drawing power and cohesiveness, strong will, resolution, dignity, serious disposition and expression; moderate circulation and coolness of temperature. It is produced by a dry, hot climate, common in southern latitudes and almost universal in tropical natives. Persons of this temperament are better adapted to hot climates because electricity dominates over magnetism, and they do not antagonize the ...
— How to Become Rich - A Treatise on Phrenology, Choice of Professions and Matrimony • William Windsor

... The temperature, already low, has begun to drop steadily, and a fine drizzle yields to a penetrating chilliness which finds its way to one's very marrow. I am glad of my heavy wraps, and inclined, indeed, to envy the ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 150, February 16, 1916 • Various

... with an enthusiasm which his friends would have been justified in calling frenzy, if success had not finally vindicated him. He soon discovered that his compound would not melt at any degree of heat. It next occurred to him to ascertain at how low a temperature it would char, and whether it was not possible to arrest the combustion at a point that would leave the India-rubber elastic, but deprived of its adhesiveness. A single experiment proved that this was possible. After toasting a piece ...
— Famous Americans of Recent Times • James Parton

... alone that evening in no cheerful frame of mind. There had been a polo game the day before and I had lent a pony, which is always a bad thing to do. And she had wrenched her shoulder, besides helping to lose the game. There was no one in town: the temperature was ninety and climbing, and my left hand persistently cramped ...
— The Man in Lower Ten • Mary Roberts Rinehart

... the temperature were of little importance. There was never a promenade without an incident—never an incident, no matter how insignificant, that did not remind me of the peculiar phase under which every living creature ...
— With Those Who Wait • Frances Wilson Huard


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