tamper

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to interfere with or alter something without permission, often dishonestly or in a way that causes damage

   The broken seal suggested that someone had tried to tamper with the evidence.

2. 2
   verb

   to try improperly or secretly to influence a witness, juror, or other person involved in an official process

   Prosecutors warned him not to tamper with any witness before the trial.

3. 3
   noun

   a tool used to press loose material firmly down, such as coffee grounds in an espresso basket

   The barista pressed the coffee grounds evenly with a steel tamper.

Multiword verbs with tamper

• tamper with Prepositional verb B1

  to interfere with or alter something without proper authority or care

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Tamper is a sixteenth-century alteration of temper. It first meant to work and mix clay, but by the early seventeenth century it had developed the negative sense of meddling with or damaging something.

The verb is a sixteenth-century alteration of temper, originally used for mixing, meddling, or scheming; its modern sense narrowed toward unauthorized or corrupt interference. The noun meaning a tamping tool is formed independently from tamp + -er.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary