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1. Moderating by making more temperate

1. Heating and slow cooling of a material that alters the properties to increase ductility and reduce hardness, making it more workable or to increase toughness
   - annealing

1. Bring to a desired consistency, texture, or hardness by a process of gradually heating and cooling
   "temper glass";
   - anneal, normalize, normalise [Brit]
    
2. Harden by reheating and cooling in oil
   "temper steel";
   - harden
    
3. Adjust the pitch (of pianos)
    
4. Make more temperate, acceptable, or suitable by adding something else
   "she tempered her criticism";
   - season, mollify, moderate, mod [informal]
    
5. Change by restraining or moderating
   - chasten

Derived forms: temperings

See also: moderating

Type of: adjust, alter, change, correct, harden, hardening, indurate, modify, set, weaken

Encyclopedia: Tempering