Tem"pest, v. t. [Cf. OF. tempester, F.
tempêter to rage.] To disturb as by a tempest.
[Obs.]
Part huge of bulk
Wallowing unwieldy, enormous in their gait,
Tempest the ocean.
Milton.Tem"pest, v. i. To storm. [Obs.]
B. Jonson.
Tem"pest (?), n. [OF. tempeste, F.
tempête, (assumed) LL. tempesta, fr. L.
tempestas a portion of time, a season, weather, storm, akin to
tempus time. See Temporal of time.] 1.
An extensive current of wind, rushing with great velocity and
violence, and commonly attended with rain, hail, or snow; a furious
storm.
[We] caught in a fiery tempest, shall be hurled,
Each on his rock transfixed.
Milton.
2. Fig.: Any violent tumult or commotion; as, a
political tempest; a tempest of war, or of the
passions.
3. A fashionable assembly; a drum. See the Note
under Drum, n., 4. [Archaic]
Smollett.
☞ Tempest is sometimes used in the formation of self-
explaining compounds; as, tempest-beaten, tempest-loving,
tempest-tossed, tempest-winged, and the like.
Syn. -- Storm; agitation; perturbation. See Storm.