1886 R. Roose Let. 15 Mar. in R. S. Churchill Winston S. Churchill (1967) I. Compan. i. iv. 117 As long as I can fight the temp and keep it under 105 I shall not feel anxious.

1916 G. Bell Let. 23 July (1927) I. xv. 383 I shan't be sorry when the temp. drops 20°.

1924 J. Galsworthy Forest ii. ii. 48 Collie's temp.'s down.

1940 M. Dickens Mariana v. 170 I wish I had a thermometer with me, I'd take your temp.

1972 J. McClure Caterpillar Cop ii. 27 The body temp is above normal.

1977 Hot Car Oct. 89/3 The original CF radiator, cooled by a second-hand Kenlowe fan keeps the temps down, no sweat, even in that long hot summer of '76.

1932 Amer. Speech 7 278 A temp, a part-timer [i.e. a part-time non-civil service employee of the U.S. Post Office].

1967 Economist 22 Apr. 374/1 Overstaffing is not solely the result of the unwillingness to use temps.

1970 R. Hill Clubbable Woman viii. 238 One of his women, a temp, only comes in at weekends [at a public house].

1975 Sunday Sun (Brisbane) 23 Nov. 51/1 A year ago she sold cattle. Now she sells Temps.

1909 in Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang.

1964 in C. Hamblett & J. Deverson Generation X 173 Between school and university I had several temp. jobs ranging from accounts clerk to van driver.

1968 D. E. Knuth Art of Computer Programming I. 632 Temp storage, part of memory used to hold a value for a comparatively short time while other values occupy the registers.

1972 Homes & Gardens Dec. 22/2 ‘You do realise it's only temp, dear?’ said the Lady Supervisor when I arrived to begin my duties as part-time untrained telephonist.

1977 ‘D. Cory’ Bennett iv. 121 Detective-Inspector (temp.) Eric Hunter.

1974 Harpers & Queen Sept. 180/1 You meet such civilized people when temping for Bernardette.

1978 Times 2 Oct. (Business Efficiency Suppl.) p. iii/3 Most of the students had given as their explanation for deciding to temp: ‘To gain office experience before taking up a permanent job.’

1973 Times 15 Mar. 30/5 (advt.) Bored with temping? We specialise in short term assignments..in the artistic and creative fields.

1979 A. Price Tomorrow's Ghost i. 9 I'm a bit cheesed off with this temping—I think it's time to dig in somewhere comfy.

1658 W. Dugdale Hist. St. Pauls Cathedral 127 Of this, the first mention that I finde, is in that Grant of Richard de Beaumeir Bishop of London (temp. H.1.) concerning the School.

1767 A. C. Ducarel Anglo-Norm. Antiq. 96 Leases of Crown-Lands in Kent, temp. Eliz.

1859 S. A. Allibone Crit. Dict. Eng. Lit. I. 27 As we have frequently occasion to refer to the reigns of different English sovereigns without specifying dates,—temp. Edward II., temp. Henry II., &c.

1885 Athenæum 24 Oct. 539/3 A chart pedigree commencing temp. Henry VIII.

1891 Notes & Queries 7th Ser. 11 80/1 The Cardinal of S. Praxedes, who made it [sc. the family of Bainbrigge] famous temp. Henry VIII.

1892 F. W. Maitland Let. 6 Sept. (1965) 105 Are you likely to write anything about the frequency of eyres temp. Hen. II?

1932 Notes & Queries 16 Jan. 46/1 Old registers tempore mid-seventeenth century.

1955 Times 16 July 7/4 A flying machine, tempore Blériot, would almost certainly have crashed in the shrubbery.

1983 W. Blunt Married to Single Life i. 2 My great-grandfather, John Blunt of Lindfield in Sussex (temp. James I).