calcification

American  

[kal-suh-fi-key-shuhn] / ˌkæl sə fɪˈkeɪ ʃən /

noun

1. a changing into lime.

2. Physiology. the deposition of lime or insoluble salts of calcium and magnesium, as in a tissue.

3. Anatomy, Geology. a calcified formation.

4. a soil process in which the surface soil is supplied with calcium in such a way that the soil colloids are always close to saturation.

5. a hardening or solidifying; rigidity.

   As the conflict developed, there was an increasing calcification of attitudes on both sides.

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calcification Scientific  

/ kăl′sə-fĭ-kā′shən /

1. Medicine

   1. The accumulation of calcium or calcium salts in a body tissue. Calcification normally occurs in the formation of bone, but can be deposited abnormally, as in the lungs.

   2. A structure that has undergone calcification.

2. Geology

   1. The replacement of organic material, especially original hard material such as bone, with calcium carbonate during the process of fossilization.

   2. The accumulation of calcium in certain soils, especially soils of cool temperate regions where leaching takes place very slowly.

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Etymology

Origin of calcification

First recorded in 1840–50; calcific + -ation

Example Sentences

Warming oceans, together with ocean acidification caused by higher carbon dioxide levels, also disrupt the microbe-aided calcification process that gives corals their structure, making it harder for them to repair damage.

From Scientific American

Two months later — after Cespedes returned for one game — his season was shut down so he could undergo operations on his heels to remove bone spurs and calcification near the Achilles’ tendons.

From New York Times

He homered at Yankee Stadium in his return, then went back on the DL and had surgery to remove bone calcification from his right heel on Aug. 2, 2018, and his left that Oct.

From Seattle Times

He had surgery to remove bone calcification from his right heel on Aug. 2, 2018, and his left that Oct.

From Seattle Times

By analyzing the shell weights of almost 2,000 fossil shells from over the past century the researchers found a 20 percent reduction in calcification among surface-dwelling foraminifera.

From New York Times