anneal

anneal
    v 1: bring to a desired consistency, texture, or hardness by a
         process of gradually heating and cooling; "temper glass"
         [syn: {anneal}, {temper}, {normalize}]
    

Anneal \An*neal"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Annealed}; p. pr. & vb.
   n. {Annealing}.] [OE. anelen to heat, burn, AS. an?lan; 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}.]
   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.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To heat, as glass, tiles, or earthenware, in order to fix
      the colors laid on them.
      [1913 Webster]