as in hardening
to make stronger (as through hardship)
She was annealed by the tragedies of her childhood.
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Recent Examples of annealing
The system will form the backbone of a long-term partnership between FAU and D-Wave, which provides both annealing and gate-model quantum computing platforms.
—
Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 28 Jan. 2026
Engineers sparingly tried annealing hardware space, so Juno's experience could be instructive for future missions.
—Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 12 Sep. 2025
Workable quantum solutions that make use of annealing systems are now in use.
—Chuck Brooks, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2025
After annealing, the links are strong covalent bonds [below].
—IEEE Spectrum, 11 Aug. 2024
Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 28 Jan. 2026
Engineers sparingly tried annealing hardware space, so Juno's experience could be instructive for future missions.
—Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 12 Sep. 2025
Workable quantum solutions that make use of annealing systems are now in use.
—Chuck Brooks, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2025
After annealing, the links are strong covalent bonds [below].
—IEEE Spectrum, 11 Aug. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for annealing
Verb
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To get the hardening benefit, the metal must be untainted.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
16 Feb. 2026
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Those workers will focus on repairing broken lights, hardening lights to prevent copper wire theft and clearing the backlog of deferred cases.—
Melissa Gomez,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Feb. 2026
Verb
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With Bloomingdale’s distancing itself from the competition and strengthening its luxury and contemporary profile, the challenge is clear — how to sustain the momentum and build upon last year’s gains.—
David Moin,
Footwear News,
18 Feb. 2026
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South Dakota state senators revived and approved a bill Tuesday that was described by its sponsor as strengthening parental rights, but was criticized by opponents for its potential to undercut protections against abuse and neglect, delay urgent health care decisions and encourage lawsuits.—
Meghan O’Brien,
States Newsroom,
18 Feb. 2026
Verb
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French President Emmanuel Macron, representing one of only two states in Europe (the other being Britain) with nuclear weapons capability, is pushing for intra-European debates on reinforcing nuclear deterrence — with or without the United States.—
Daniel DePetris,
Chicago Tribune,
19 Feb. 2026
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Conventional reinforcing steel is embedded in it to increase its load-bearing capacity.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
19 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The five-day trade fair draws Black businesspersons from dozens of states fortifying Jackson’s assertion that economic development is the way to Black power.—
Darcel Rockett,
Chicago Tribune,
17 Feb. 2026
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If healthy, Burrow (5-3 as a starter in 2025) will help significantly elevate the Bengals, as will a free agency and draft devoted to fortifying the defense.—
Mike Jones,
New York Times,
12 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Annealing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/annealing. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.
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