Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who tamps, or prepares for blasting by stopping the hole in which the charge is placed.
  • noun An instrument used in tamping; a tamping-bar or tamping-iron.
  • To experiment rashly; busy one's self unwisely or officiously; meddle: usually followed by with in this and the other senses.
  • To interfere, as for the purpose of alteration; make objectionable or unauthorized changes (in): as, to tamper with a will or other document.
  • To use secret or underhand measures; exert unfair or corrupt influence; especially, to use improper persuasions, solicitations, bribery, etc.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One who tamps; specifically, one who prepares for blasting, by filling the hole in which the charge is placed.
  • noun An instrument used in tamping; a tamping iron.
  • intransitive verb To meddle; to be busy; to try little experiments.
  • intransitive verb To meddle so as to alter, injure, or vitiate a thing.
  • intransitive verb To deal unfairly; to practice secretly; to use bribery.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A person or thing that tamps.
  • noun A tool used to tamp down tobacco in a pipe.
  • verb intransitive To alter by making unauthorized changes; to meddle.
  • verb in professional sports To discuss future contracts against league rules with a player.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb intrude in other people's affairs or business; interfere unwantedly
  • noun a tool for tamping (e.g., for tamping tobacco into a pipe bowl or a charge into a drill hole etc.)
  • verb play around with or alter or falsify, usually secretively or dishonestly

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle French temprer ("to temper, mix, meddle")

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Examples

  • With hardware you can create what we call a tamper-resistant security module.

    Making Security A Competitive Advantage 2010

  • With hardware you can create what we call a tamper-resistant security module.

    Making Security A Competitive Advantage 2010

  • With hardware you can create what we call a tamper-resistant security module.

    Making Security A Competitive Advantage 2010

  • The tag tamper alarm is particularly useful in identifying when a label has been cut off a piece of apparel in a retail store changing room, or indicating when a tag has been removed from its original position for any simple seals for items such as containers or jewelry.

    ThomasNet News - Today's New Product News ThomasNet News 2010

  • In addition, the new chips offer a variety of industry-first features, including a tag tamper alarm, several privacy mode options, and password-protected data transfer or digital switch.

    ThomasNet News - Today's New Product News ThomasNet News 2010

  • The radioactive material in a bomb is buried in a "tamper" - in these bombs, gold.

    The Past Through Tomorrow Heinlein, Robert A. 1967

  • So there's interesting things that one does to counteract these by using analytics, privacy protecting analytics like these things called tamper resistance logs that record how the people inside the bank, for example, actually looked at records.

    IBM's Analytical Ways Kym McNicholas 2010

  • So there's interesting things that one does to counteract these by using analytics, privacy protecting analytics like these things called tamper resistance logs that record how the people inside the bank, for example, actually looked at records.

    IBM's Analytical Ways Kym McNicholas 2010

  • It comes with a large stick known as a tamper -- which is used to push the food you are blending into the blades -- and a separate container specifically designed for grinding grain.

    High-Powered Models 2008

  • The core technology is called a tamper-resistant embedded controller TREC.

    The Container That Could 2006

Comments

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  • The anaesthetist arrived, tampered with my heart and lungs, an dimplored me to breathe deeply while he listened.

    - Peter Reading, C, 1984

    August 2, 2008

  • JM knows a barista who was banned from making espresso so she lost her tamper.

    June 15, 2011

  • "Ms O’CONNOR – Minister, through you, and this might be a question for Mr Dietrich. This financial year there was a decline in the proportion of track rated as good on the track quality index. This is particularly pronounced in the Derwent Valley, which declined from 61.2 per cent to 45.1 per cent. This seems a fairly substantial degradation in a single year. Can you provide any details of the causes of this decline in quality of track?

    Mr DIETRICH – Thank you for the question, Ms O’Connor. The figure of 75.9 to 73.5 is a slight deterioration, particularly in the Derwent Valley. That’s related to the tamper. So, the Derwent Valley is still at that level of condition. It’s scheduled to be tamped in early 2022, which will then bring those statistics back up and the overall statistics back in line with the trend that we expect."

    - https://tasmaniantimes.com/2021/12/tasrail-and-threatened-plant-species/

    December 6, 2021