anneal Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb bring to a desired consistency, texture, or hardness by a process of gradually heating and cooling
    normalize; temper.
    • temper glass

WordNet

An*neal" transitive verb
Etymology
OE. anelen to heat, burn, AS. anlan; an on + lan to burn; also OE. anelen to enamel, prob. influenced by OF. neeler, nieler, to put a black enamel on gold or silver, F. nieller, fr. LL. nigellare to blacken, fr. L. nigellus blackish, dim. of niger black. Cf. Niello, Negro.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Annealed present participle & verbal noun Annealing
Definitions
  1. To subject to great heat, and then cool slowly, as glass, cast iron, steel, or other metal, for the purpose of rendering it less brittle; to temper; to toughen.
  2. To heat, as glass, tiles, or earthenware, in order to fix the colors laid on them.

Webster 1913