tempt definition |Dictionary.com

Related Searches

on Ask.com

satan tempt us

tempted by the fruit of another

tempt not a desperate man

don't tempt me the movie

who is the president pro tempt

brings out

Browse Nearby Entries

temporoparietal musc...

tempt

5 dictionary results for: tempt

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

tempt

[tempt] Pronunciation Key

–verb (used with object)

1.	to entice or allure to do something often regarded as unwise, wrong, or immoral.

2.	to attract, appeal strongly to, or invite: The offer tempts me.

3.	to render strongly disposed to do something: The book tempted me to read more on the subject.

4.	to put (someone) to the test in a venturesome way; provoke: to tempt one's fate.

5.	Obsolete. to try or test.

[Origin: 1175–1225; ME < L temptāre to probe, feel, test, tempt

]

—Related forms

tempt·a·ble, adjective

—Synonyms 1. Tempt, seduce may both mean to allure or entice to something unwise or wicked. To tempt is to attract by holding out the probability of gratification or advantage, often in the direction of that which is wrong or unwise: to tempt a man with a bribe. To seduce is literally to lead astray, sometimes from that which absorbs one or demands attention, but oftener, in a moral sense, from rectitude, chastity, etc.: to seduce a person away from loyalty. 2. inveigle, induce, lure, incite, persuade.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

tempt   (těmpt) Pronunciation Key
v.   tempt·ed, tempt·ing, tempts

v.   tr.

To try to get (someone) to do wrong, especially by a promise of reward.
To be inviting or attractive to: A second helping tempted me. We refused the offer even though it tempted us. See Synonyms at lure.
To provoke or to risk provoking: Don't tempt fate.
To cause to be strongly disposed: He was tempted to walk out.

v. intr.
To be attractive or inviting: a meal that tempts.

[Middle English tempten, from Old French tempter, from Latin temptāre, to feel, try.]

tempt'a·ble adj., tempt'er n.

(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
tempt

c.1225, from O.Fr. tempter (12c.), from L. temptare "to feel, try out, attempt to influence, test." Tempting in the sense of "inviting" is from 1596; temptress is from 1594.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

tempt
verb
1.	dispose or incline or entice to; "We were tempted by the delicious-looking food"
2.	provoke someone to do something through (often false or exaggerated) promises or persuasion; "He lured me into temptation" [syn: entice]
3.	give rise to a desire by being attractive or inviting; "the window displays tempted the shoppers"
4.	induce into action by using one's charm; "She charmed him into giving her all his money" [syn: charm]
5.	try to seduce
6.	try presumptuously; "St. Anthony was tempted in the desert"

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Tempt

Tempt\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tempted; p. pr. & vb. n. Tempting.] [OE. tempten, tenten, from OF. tempter, tenter, F. tenter, fr. L. tentare, temptare, to handle, feel, attack, to try, put to the test, urge, freq. from tendere, tentum, and tensum, to stretch. See Thin, and cf. Attempt, Tend, Taunt, Tent a pavilion, Tent to probe.]

1. To put to trial; to prove; to test; to try.

God did tempt Abraham. --Gen. xxii. 1.

Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God. --Deut. vi. 16.

2. To lead, or endeavor to lead, into evil; to entice to what is wrong; to seduce.

Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. --James i. 14.

3. To endeavor to persuade; to induce; to invite; to incite; to provoke; to instigate.

Tempt not the brave and needy to despair. --Dryden.

Nor tempt the wrath of heaven's avenging Sire. --Pope.

4. To endeavor to accomplish or reach; to attempt.

Ere leave be given to tempt the nether skies. --Dryden.

Syn: To entice; allure; attract; decoy; seduce.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT