The meaning of Toughening

verb

Heat (metal or glass) and allow it to cool slowly, in order to remove internal stresses and toughen it.

Usage examples:

Copper tubes must be annealed after bending or they will be brittle

verb

To make metal or glass soft by heating and then cooling it slowly

verb

Make (someone) cruel, violent, or insensitive to the pain of others by repeated exposure to violence.

Usage examples:

He had been brutalized in prison and become cynical

verb

To act cruelly and violently toward someone

Usage examples:

As a society we brutalize ourselves when we hurt our own members.

noun

A powdery substance made by calcining lime and clay, mixed with water to form mortar or mixed with sand, gravel, and water to make concrete.

Usage examples:

We were having some building work done and there was cement, sand and mortar lying around.

verb

Fix with cement.

Usage examples:

Wooden posts were cemented into the ground

noun

A gray powder that is mixed with water, sand, and other substances, becomes very hard when dry, and is used in making concrete

Usage examples:

There weren’t any chairs, so she sat on the cement., the dentist cemented the tooth back in place.,…

verb

Make or become rough.

Usage examples:

Her hands were coarsened by outside work

verb

To become rough or cause something to become rough

Usage examples:

In high summer, the salad leaves coarsen and become bitter., he coarsens the paint by mixing it wit…

verb

Make (something) physically stronger or more solid.

Usage examples:

The first phase of the project is to consolidate the outside walls

verb

Form into a solid mass or whole

verb

To bring together or unite things that were separate

Usage examples:

[ i ] our offices had been spread among three buildings, and then we consolidated into one new high…

verb

Provide (a place) with defensive works as protection against attack.

Usage examples:

The enclave has been heavily fortified in recent years

verb

Make or become hard or harder.

Usage examples:

Wait for the glue to harden

verb

To make or become stronger or more severe

Usage examples:

[ i ] as the war progressed, attitudes on both sides hardened., [ i ] in a few hours the cement wil…

verb

If prices or share prices harden, they increase

Usage examples:

If the oil price hardens this week and remains high, there will be some effect on fuel prices by th…

verb

Make unpleasantly rough or jarring to the senses.

Usage examples:

‘right,’ i said, harshening my tone

verb

Harden.

Usage examples:

These sedimentary deposits, under the weight of the upper beds, would quickly indurate

noun

One's mother.

Usage examples:

I want my ma

abbreviation

Massachusetts (in official postal use).

verb

Strengthen or support (an object or substance), especially with additional material.

Usage examples:

The helmet has been reinforced with a double layer of cork

Strengthen and support

verb

Make or become rigid or inflexible.

Usage examples:

Silicon to rigidify the shell

noun

Each of the four divisions of the year (spring, summer, autumn, and winter) marked by particular weather patterns and daylight hours, resulting from the earth's changing position with regard to the sun.

Usage examples:

Now most places in the world you have four seasons; winter, spring, summer, fall but not so in barb…

verb

Add salt, herbs, pepper, or other spices to (food).

Usage examples:

Season the soup to taste with salt and pepper

noun

One of the four parts a year is divided into; spring, summer, fall, or winter

Usage examples:

Flu season, the holiday season, the baseball season lasts from april to october., strawberries are …

noun

A hard, strong grey or bluish-grey alloy of iron with carbon and usually other elements, used as a structural and fabricating material.

Usage examples:

Steel girders

verb

Mentally prepare (oneself) to do or face something difficult.

Usage examples:

His team were steeling themselves for disappointment

verb

Make or become stiff or rigid.

Usage examples:

He stiffened his knees in an effort to prevent them trembling

verb

Make rigid or more rigid

verb

To become or make something firm or more difficult to bend

Usage examples:

[ t ] to paint on linen, you first have to stiffen the fabric with a glue mixture., [ i ] his back …

verb

Make or become stronger.

Usage examples:

He advises an application of fluoride to strengthen the teeth

verb

To become more effective, or to make something more effective

Usage examples:

[ t ] somehow his illness strengthened their marriage and brought them closer together., [ t ] pare…

verb

To make something more effective or powerful

Usage examples:

A discussion paper aiming to strengthen the eu's competition regime has been circulated amongst com…

noun

A person's state of mind seen in terms of their being angry or calm.

Usage examples:

He rushed out in a very bad temper

verb

Improve the hardness and elasticity of (steel or other metal) by reheating and then cooling it.

Usage examples:

The way a smith would temper a sword

noun

The state of your mind or feelings

Usage examples:

[ c ] john has a bad temper., [ u ] a fit of temper, [ c ] you need to learn to control your temper…

verb

Make or become thick or thicker.

Usage examples:

Thicken the sauce with flour

verb

To cause to become thicker

Usage examples:

Thicken the gravy with a little flour.