tamper

[ tam-per ]

/ ˈtæm pər /

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.

Nearby words

tamoxifen, tamp, tampa, tampa bay, tampala, tamper, tamper with, tamper-resistant, tampere, tamperproof, tampico

Origin of tamper

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

SYNONYMS FOR tamper

1 interfere.

Related forms

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

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

Examples from the Web for tampering

Because of this, tampering with the nature of one has an impact on the nature of the other.
Living Black & Gay in the ’50s|Alain Mabanckou|December 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Why is he re-introducing the idea of tampering with Medicare in an election year?
Paul Ryan: Still a Total Jerk|Michael Tomasky|April 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Her fellow firefighters strung a giant bra across the firehouse ceiling and endangered her life by tampering with her oxygen tank.
Women Who Paved the Way|Betsy West|February 26, 2013|DAILY BEAST
But the argument here is that any tampering with entitlements is a betrayal.
Your Turn: What's Acceptable?|Michael Tomasky|November 14, 2012|DAILY BEAST

In 2000, Mitchell was accused of disenfranchising thousands of Floridians by tampering with voting lists.
GOP-Backed Voter Fraud Laws Aim To Disenfranchise Students|Jake Heller|September 4, 2012|DAILY BEAST
A further cause of disaffection lay in the general impression that the monarch was tampering with the coinage.
The Swedish Revolution Under Gustavus Vasa|Paul Barron Watson
The present bill at best was but a fraud, a tampering with the national sentiment.
Ireland as It Is|Robert John Buckley (AKA R.J.B.)
No one dreamed of the possibility of tampering with any of the old political or social institutions of the city.
Main Currents in Nineteenth Century Literature - 6. Young Germany|Georg Brandes
It was an odd sequence that out of all this tampering with social law came that flower of Nature, Elizabeth.
The Mayor of Casterbridge|Thomas Hardy
Did ye think I'd been tampering with the interests of the firm?
The Recipe for Diamonds|Charles John Cutcliffe Wright Hyne

British Dictionary definitions for tampering (1 of 2)

tamper

/ (ˈtæmpə) /

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 Forms

tamperer, noun

Word Origin for tamper

C16: alteration of temper (verb)

British Dictionary definitions for tampering (2 of 2)

tamper

/ (ˈtæmpə) /

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