The process of removing zinc from an alloy like brass, either intentionally during manufacturing or unintentionally through corrosion.
From dezinc + -ation (Latin suffix forming nouns of action). This technical term became standard in metallurgical and engineering texts.
Dezincation is an enemy of old brass plumbing—if water is corrosive, it can slowly steal the zinc from brass pipes, leaving weak porous copper behind that eventually fails!
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