tempering
    adj 1: moderating by making more temperate
    n 1: hardening something by heat treatment [syn: annealing,
         tempering]

moderating \moderating\ adj.
   lessening in intensity or strength. Opposite of
   intensifying. [Narrower terms: tempering; weakening]
   [WordNet 1.5]

Temper \Tem"per\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tempered; p. pr. & vb.
   n. Tempering.] [AS. temprian or OF. temper, F. temp['e]rer,
   and (in sense 3) temper, L. temperare, akin to tempus time.
   Cf. Temporal, Distemper, Tamper.]
   1. To mingle in due proportion; to prepare by combining; to
      modify, as by adding some new element; to qualify, as by
      an ingredient; hence, to soften; to mollify; to assuage;
      to soothe; to calm.
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            Puritan austerity was so tempered by Dutch
            indifference, that mercy itself could not have
            dictated a milder system.             --Bancroft.
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            Woman! lovely woman! nature made thee
            To temper man: we had been brutes without you.
                                                  --Otway.
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            But thy fire
            Shall be more tempered, and thy hope far higher.
                                                  --Byron.
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            She [the Goddess of Justice] threw darkness and
            clouds about her, that tempered the light into a
            thousand beautiful shades and colors. --Addison.
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   2. To fit together; to adjust; to accomodate.
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            Thy sustenance . . . serving to the appetite of the
            eater, tempered itself to every man's liking.
                                                  --Wisdom xvi.
                                                  21.
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   3. (Metal.) To bring to a proper degree of hardness; as, to
      temper iron or steel.
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            The tempered metals clash, and yield a silver sound.
                                                  --Dryden.
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   4. To govern; to manage. [A Latinism & Obs.]
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            With which the damned ghosts he governeth,
            And furies rules, and Tartare tempereth. --Spenser.
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   5. To moisten to a proper consistency and stir thoroughly, as
      clay for making brick, loam for molding, etc.
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   6. (Mus.) To adjust, as the mathematical scale to the actual
      scale, or to that in actual use.
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   Syn: To soften; mollify; assuage; soothe; calm.
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Tempering \Tem"per*ing\, n. (Metal.)
   The process of giving the requisite degree of hardness or
   softness to a substance, as iron and steel; especially, the
   process of giving to steel the degree of hardness required
   for various purposes, consisting usually in first plunging
   the article, when heated to redness, in cold water or other
   liquid, to give an excess of hardness, and then reheating it
   gradually until the hardness is reduced or drawn down to the
   degree required, as indicated by the color produced on a
   polished portion, or by the burning of oil.
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   Tempering color, the shade of color that indicates the
      degree of temper in tempering steel, as pale straw yellow
      for lancets, razors, and tools for metal; dark straw
      yellow for penknives, screw taps, etc.; brown yellow for
      axes, chisels, and plane irons; yellow tinged with purple
      for table knives and shears; purple for swords and watch
      springs; blue for springs and saws; and very pale blue
      tinged with green, too soft for steel instruments.
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