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anneal - 6 dictionary results

an⋅neal

   [uh-neel]
–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.
3. to toughen or temper.
4. Biochemistry. to recombine (nucleic acid strands) at low temperature after separating by heat.
5. to fuse colors onto (a vitreous or metallic surface) by heating.
–noun
6. an act, instance, or product of annealing.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME anelen, OE anǣlan to kindle, equiv. to an- on + ǣlan to burn, akin to āl fire
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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an·neal     (ə-nēl')  Pronunciation Key 
v.   an·nealed, an·neal·ing, an·neals

v.   tr.
  1. To subject (glass or metal) to a process of heating and slow cooling in order to toughen and reduce brittleness.
  2. To strengthen or harden.
v.   intr.
To become strengthened or hardened: "the time she needed for opinion to anneal around her policy" (Alexander M. Haig, Jr.)

[Middle English anelen, from Old English onǣlan, to set fire to : on, on; see on + ǣlan, to kindle.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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anneal 
O.E. onælan "to set on fire, kindle," from on- "on" + ælan "to burn, bake," from P.Gmc. *ailan, related to O.E. æled "fire."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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anneal

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

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Main Entry: an·neal
Pronunciation: &-'nE(&)l
Function: transitive verb
1 : to heat and then cool (as steel or glass) usually forsoftening and making less brittle
2 : to heat and then cool (nucleic acid) in order to separate strands and induce combination at lower temperatures especially with complementarystrands of a different species anneal intransitive senses
: to be capable of combining with complementary nucleic acid by a process of heating and cooling anneals well with eukaryotic DNA>

Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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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.

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

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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