[ad. L. tentātiōn-em, late form (after Romanic) of temptātiōn-em, n. of action from temptāre (tentāre) to try, TEMPT.]
1. Obsolete form of TEMPTATION, q.v.: sometimes specially expressing experimental trial, as distinct from enticement to evil.
2. techn. A mode of working or adjusting by trial or experiment.
a. ‘(Locksmithing.) A mode of picking locks in which the bolt is pressed backward constantly, and the tumblers released one by one from the stud.’
b. ‘(Compass-adjusting.) Professor Airy’s mode of adjusting compasses in iron ships, in which boxes of iron chain and magnets are experimentally placed and shifted … until the disturbing influence of the iron hull is neutralized’ (Knight, Dict. Mech., 1877, s.v.).
