The process of losing zinc from brass or copper-zinc alloys, typically through corrosion by water or certain chemicals, weakening the material.
From dezinc + -ification (Latin suffix meaning 'the process of becoming'). This technical term became standard in materials science and engineering.
Dezincification plagued old brass plumbing systems—water would slowly extract zinc from brass fittings, and plumbers would find pipes that crumbled like old cookies when they tried to fix them!
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