Main Entry: an·neal

Pronunciation: \ə-ˈnēl\

Function: verb

Etymology: Middle English anelen to set on fire, from Old English onǣlan, from on + ǣlan to set on fire, burn, from āl fire; akin to Old English ǣled fire, Old Norse eldr

Date: 1664

transitive verb 1 a : to heat and then cool (as steel or glass) usually for softening and making less brittle; also : to cool slowly usually in a furnace b : to heat and then cool (double-stranded nucleic acid) in order to separate strands and induce combination at lower temperature with complementary strands
2 : strengthen, toughenintransitive verb : to be capable of combining with complementary nucleic acid by a process of heating and cooling