lost-wax process

American  

[lawst-waks, lost-] / ˈlɔstˈwæks, ˈlɒst- /

noun

Metallurgy.

1. a process of investment casting in which a refractory mold is built up around a pattern of wax and then baked so as to melt and drain off the wax.

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Etymology

Origin of lost-wax process

1930–35; translation of French cire perdue

Example Sentences

Benin artists excelled at brass casting, made with a lost-wax process.

From Los Angeles Times • May 3, 2021

The process for creating the bronze bust, explained Palm, is called the lost-wax process.

From Washington Times • Sep. 4, 2016

Eliscu decided to make the trophy by using a metal-casting method known as the lost-wax process.

From New York Times • Dec. 7, 2012

It was a shock to discover that the mistakes I hadn’t made would now never be made but would exist as negative shapes, cast in a kind of lost-wax process.

From The New Yorker • Oct. 9, 1995

The ancients used the lost-wax process that produced a seamless, one-piece mold�and a statue with no ridges on it.

From Time Magazine Archive