Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1200-1300
Language: Old French
Origin: tempeste, from Latin tempestas 'season, weather, storm', from tempus 'time'

tempest

 noun
     
Related topics: Meteorology
tem‧pest [countable]
1 literaryHEM a violent storm
2

a tempest in a teapot

American English an unimportant matter that someone has become upset about:
Haley dismissed the lawsuit as a tempest in a teapot.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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