tempering

Noun · Adjective

Synonyms: annealing

WordNet 3.0

Noun (1)

hardening something by heat treatmentSynonyms: annealing

Adjective (1)

moderating by making more temperate

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

moderating \moderating\ adj. lessening in intensity or strength. Opposite of intensifying. [Narrower terms: tempering; weakening] [WordNet 1.5]

Temper \Tem"per\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tempered; p. pr. & vb. n. Tempering.] [AS. temprian or OF. temper, F. temp['e]rer, and (in sense 3) temper, L. temperare, akin to tempus time. Cf. Temporal, Distemper, Tamper.]

1.To mingle in due proportion; to prepare by combining; to modify, as by adding some new element; to qualify, as by an ingredient; hence, to soften; to mollify; to assuage; to soothe; to calm. [1913 Webster]

Puritan austerity was so tempered by Dutch indifference, that mercy itself could not have dictated a milder system.— Bancroft.[1913 Webster]

Woman! lovely woman! nature made thee To temper man: we had been brutes without you.— Otway.[1913 Webster]

But thy fire Shall be more tempered, and thy hope far higher.— Byron.[1913 Webster]

She [the Goddess of Justice] threw darkness and clouds about her, that tempered the light into a thousand beautiful shades and colors.— Addison.[1913 Webster]

2.To fit together; to adjust; to accomodate. [1913 Webster]

Thy sustenance . . . serving to the appetite of the eater, tempered itself to every man's liking.— Wisdom xvi. 21.[1913 Webster]

3.(Metal.) To bring to a proper degree of hardness; as, to temper iron or steel. [1913 Webster]

The tempered metals clash, and yield a silver sound.— Dryden.[1913 Webster]

4.To govern; to manage. [A Latinism & Obs.] [1913 Webster]

With which the damned ghosts he governeth, And furies rules, and Tartare tempereth.— Spenser.[1913 Webster]

5.To moisten to a proper consistency and stir thoroughly, as clay for making brick, loam for molding, etc. [1913 Webster]

6.(Mus.) To adjust, as the mathematical scale to the actual scale, or to that in actual use. [1913 Webster]

Syn: To soften; mollify; assuage; soothe; calm. [1913 Webster]

Tempering \Tem"per*ing\, n. (Metal.) The process of giving the requisite degree of hardness or softness to a substance, as iron and steel; especially, the process of giving to steel the degree of hardness required for various purposes, consisting usually in first plunging the article, when heated to redness, in cold water or other liquid, to give an excess of hardness, and then reheating it gradually until the hardness is reduced or drawn down to the degree required, as indicated by the color produced on a polished portion, or by the burning of oil. [1913 Webster]

Tempering color, the shade of color that indicates the degree of temper in tempering steel, as pale straw yellow for lancets, razors, and tools for metal; dark straw yellow for penknives, screw taps, etc.; brown yellow for axes, chisels, and plane irons; yellow tinged with purple for table knives and shears; purple for swords and watch springs; blue for springs and saws; and very pale blue tinged with green, too soft for steel instruments. [1913 Webster]