# tempering

Pronunciation: say "TEM-puh-ring" /ˈtɛmpəɹɪŋ/

## Verb

1. Present participle and gerund of temper. — present participle and gerund of temper
   - Simple: Present participle and gerund of temper. Use it after is, was or keep, or as a noun for the action.
   - _The blacksmith was tempering the blade in his forge late into the night._
   - _Tempering the eggs with a little hot milk keeps them from scrambling in the custard._

## Noun

2. The act or process by which something is tempered, as steel is by heat treatment.
   - Simple: The act of treating something so it becomes tougher, softer or better balanced, like steel or chocolate.
   - _Careful tempering left the spring steel tough rather than brittle._
   - _The new pastry chef's tempering of the chocolate was flawless, with a glossy finish and a crisp snap._
3. In pottery and building, a non-plastic material such as sand that is added to clay to keep it from shrinking and cracking as it dries or is fired.
   - Simple: Sand or a similar material mixed into clay so it does not shrink or crack as it dries or is baked.
   - _Ground-up pottery fragments served as tempering in many of the vessels found at the site._
   - _The builders packed the wall frame with a stiff mix of clay and coarse tempering._

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/tempering (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).