What is to modify or temper; to allay; to qualify; to moderate; to soften. [Obs.] The antidotes . . . have allayed its bitterness and contempered its malignancy. Johnson called?

contemper — To modify or temper; to allay; to qualify; to moderate; to soften. [Obs.] The antidotes . . . have allayed its bitterness and contempered its malignancy. Johnson. (Webster's 1913.)

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