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 verb1 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 strands2: strengthen, toughenintransitive verb: to be capable of combining with complementary nucleic acid by a process of heating and cooling