decalcification

[dee-kal-suh-fi-key-shuhn]

noun

1. the act or process of decalcifying.

2. the loss of calcium or calcium compounds, as from bone or soil.

Other Word Forms

• nondecalcification noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of decalcification¹

First recorded in 1855–60; decalci(fy) + -fication

Example Sentences

Initial evaluations of the animal found she had 10 pathological fractures, or breaks caused by weak bones, which veterinarians said occurred because of the decalcification of her bones.

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But until now, there wasn’t definitive proof the water’s acidity was causing decalcification.

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B, Single zooid with the adjacent soft tissues as seen after removal of the skeleton by decalcification.

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It consists in the decalcification of mature bone, with the advancing diminution of the compact portion of bone by absorption.

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In early childhood the processes of calcification and decalcification proceed side by side and with great rapidity, and in health there is always a balance on the side of the constructive process.

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