tamper

[tam-per]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tamper ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

to meddle, especially for the purpose of altering, damaging, or misusing (usually followed by with): Someone has been tampering with the lock.

to make changes in something, especially in order to falsify (usually followed by with): to tamper with official records.

to engage secretly or improperly in something.

to engage in underhand or corrupt dealings, especially in order to influence improperly (usually followed by with): Any lawyer who tries to tamper with a jury should be disbarred.

Origin of tamper

1560–70; probably variant of temper (v.)

Related formstam·per·er, nounun·tam·pered, adjective

Synonyms for tamper

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tamper ON THESAURUS.COM

1. interfere.

tamper

[tam-per]

noun

a person or thing that tamps.

Origin of tamper

tamp + -er¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for tamper

tinker, meddle, fool, intrude, cut, doctor, vary, irrigate, interpose, plant, damage, water, interlope, change, spike, cook, destroy, diversify, manipulate, busybody

Examples from the Web for tamper

Historical Examples of tamper

He might write the songs of rebellion, but he was little likely to tamper with treason itself.
Lord Kilgobbin
Charles Lever
There was something in the hearts of his people with which he dare not tamper.
The Web of the Golden Spider
Frederick Orin Bartlett
"They will try to tamper with him," the doctor suggested, thoughtfully.
Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard
Joseph Conrad
When your Southern statesmen have tried to tamper with her, they have found her true.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 14, No. 86, December, 1864
Various
To me they are sacred institutions, and I should never dare to tamper with them.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 150, February 23, 1916
Various

British Dictionary definitions for tamper

tamper

verb (intr)

(usually foll by with) to interfere or meddle

to use corrupt practices such as bribery or blackmail

(usually foll by with) to attempt to influence or corrupt, esp by briberyto tamper with the jury

Derived Formstamperer, noun

Word Origin for tamper

C16: alteration of temper (verb)

tamper

noun

a person or thing that tamps, esp an instrument for packing down tobacco in a pipe

a casing around the core of a nuclear weapon to increase its efficiency by reflecting neutrons and delaying the expansion

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for tamper

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 was initially spelled. Perhaps it is a dialectal workmen's pronunciation. Related: Tampered; tampering.