tempering

verb

1. (form-of, gerund, participle, present)present participle and gerund of temper

noun

1. The act by which something is tempered.

   “Caron has, in fact, discovered this very curious circumstance, that a bar of steel becomes shorter under successive temperings, while it increases in size, laterally, in such a manner, that there actually is an increase of volume.”

2. A non-plastic material, such as sand, added to clay to prevent shrinkage and cracking during drying or firing; temper.

   “Clay and tempering were packed around the pole together with plenty of water[.]”