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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Propose a clear boundary with a sibling (or close friend) to stop resentment from hardening.—
Tarot.com,
Baltimore Sun,
7 Jan. 2026
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Those upgrades involve hardening vulnerable infrastructure, improving outage detection and restoration, and preparing the grid for increasingly extreme weather.—
Chaya Tong,
Austin American Statesman,
31 Dec. 2025
Verb
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In an era of instant answers, strengthening critical thinking means resisting automation.—
Rodger Dean Duncan,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
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While strengthening the midfield is a priority, United want a defensive leader and will be weighing up their options for what’s likely to be a four-man defence now Ruben Amorim has departed.—
Andy Mitten,
New York Times,
28 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
As Morrison pointed out, representations and practices can be mutually reinforcing.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
30 Jan. 2026
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By Saturday, a reinforcing shot of arctic air will sweep across Texas from northeast to southwest.—
Mary Wasson,
Austin American Statesman,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Canada’s defense commitment Canada has spent nearly a billion dollars fortifying its southern border.—
Paula Newton,
CNN Money,
20 Jan. 2026
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Shifting the team’s focus to 2027 Hayes’s attention will soon shift to fortifying her roster with the strongest candidates for World Cup qualifiers this year.—
Melanie Anzidei,
New York Times,
9 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Annealing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/annealing. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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