anneal

[ uh-neel ]
See synonyms for anneal on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object)
  1. to heat (glass, earthenware, metals, etc.) to remove or prevent internal stress.

  2. to free from internal stress by heating and gradually cooling.

  1. to toughen or temper.

  2. Biochemistry. to recombine (nucleic acid strands) at low temperature after separating by heat.

  3. to fuse colors onto (a vitreous or metallic surface) by heating.

noun
  1. an act, instance, or product of annealing.

Origin of anneal

1
before 1000; Middle English anelen,Old English anǣlan to kindle, equivalent to an-on + ǣlan to burn, akin to āl fire

Other words from anneal

  • an·neal·er, noun
  • un·an·nealed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use anneal in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for anneal

anneal

/ (əˈniːl) /


verb
  1. to temper or toughen (something) by heat treatment

  2. to subject to or undergo some physical treatment, esp heating, that removes internal stress, crystal defects, and dislocations

  1. (tr) to toughen or strengthen (the will, determination, etc)

  2. (often foll by out) physics to disappear or cause to disappear by a rearrangement of atoms: defects anneal out at different temperatures

noun
  1. an act of annealing

Origin of anneal

1
Old English onǣlan, from on + ǣlan to burn, from āl fire

Derived forms of anneal

  • annealer, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012