heat-treat

American

[heet-treet] / ˈhitˌtrit /

verb (used with object)

to subject (a metal or alloy) to controlled heating and cooling to improve hardness or other properties.

heat-treat British

verb

(tr) to apply heat to (a metal or alloy) in one or more temperature cycles to give it desirable properties

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

heat treatment noun

Etymology

Origin of heat-treat

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"Our results were completely unexpected. Sodium vanadium oxide has been around for years, and people usually heat-treat it to remove the water because it's thought to cause problems. We decided to challenge that assumption, and the outcome was far better than we anticipated. The material showed much stronger performance and stability than expected and could even create exciting new possibilities for how these batteries are used in the future."

From Science Daily

While consumers can also attempt to heat-treat raw flour at home, this isn't recommended because the flour may not be spread thinly enough to kill all of the microorganisms.

From Salon

She signed her name on the bid sheet to become a heat-treat operator, even though no woman had ever lasted in that department before.

From New York Times

Heat-treat operators were an elite group, like samurai warriors and Navy SEALs.

From New York Times

Heat-treat operators earned $25 an hour, more money than she’d ever earned in her life.

From New York Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023