From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdistemperdis‧tem‧per /dɪˈstempə $ -ər/ noun [uncountable] 1 MIHBAa serious infectious disease that affects animals, especially dogs2 British EnglishTBDHH a type of paint that you mix with water to paint walls
Examples from the Corpus
distemper• The stairs were barely wider than his shoulders, and there was a smell of old plaster and distemper.• Fosco said WildCare investigators believed pseudo-rabies and distemper might both be involved.• International concern for these extremely rare mammals arose after thousands of grey seals were wiped out by the canine distemper virus.• He died of distemper while I was away at St Aubyn's; the news overwhelmed me with a child's grief.• Read in studio Vets are having to deal with the biggest outbreak of distemper in ten years.• Difficult political decisions should not be left to the snap judgments and popular distemper of public opinion, Hamilton wrote.• Though infected lions can meet a miserable death, Packer reports that 60 percent of those with distemper have survived.• Its yellow distemper had faded to the palest sulphur over the years.Origin distemper (1500-1600) Late Latin distemperare “to combine (liquids in the body that affect health) wrongly” 