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Lead

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Table of contents

English

Etymology 1

Old English led, leed, lead, Anglo Saxon leád; akin to Dutch lood, Middle High German lōt, German loth plummet, sounding lead, small weight, Swedish and Danish lod

Pronunciation

Homophones

led

Noun

lead

  1. (Chemistry): A heavy, pliable, inelastic metal element, having a bright, bluish color, but easily tarnished; both malleable and ductile, though with little tenacity. It is easily fusible, forms alloys with other metals, and is an ingredient of solder and type metal. Atomic number 82, Atomic weight 206.4, Specific Gravity 11.37, Symbol Pb (from Latin Plumbum).
  2. An article made of lead or an alloy of lead; as:
    (a) A plummet or mass of lead, used in sounding at sea.
    (b) (Print.) A thin strip of type metal, used to separate lines of type in printing.
    (c) Sheets or plates of lead used as a covering for roofs; hence, the plural, a roof covered with lead sheets or terne plates.
    Quotations
    • I would have the tower two stories, and goodly leads upon the top. - Bacon
  3. A small cylinder of black lead or plumbago, used in pencils.
Derived expressions

External links

Translations

for the element

  • Afrikaans: lood
  • Albanian: plumb
  • Arabic: رصاص
  • Armenian: plumbu
  • Basque: beruna
  • Belarusian: цвiнец
  • Bosnian: olovo
  • Breton: plom m pl plomoù
  • Bulgarian: олово
  • Catalan: plom m
  • Chinese:
  • Cornish: plom
  • Croatian: olovo
  • Czech: olovo
  • Danish: bly
  • Dutch: lood n
  • Esperanto: plumbo
  • Estonian: plii
  • Faroese: blýggj
  • Finnish: lyijy
  • French: plomb m
  • Frisian: lead n
  • Friulian: plomp
  • Galician: chumbo
  • Georgian: ტყვია
  • German: Blei n
  • Hebrew: עופרת
  • Hungarian: ólom
  • Icelandic: blý
  • Indonesian: timbal
  • Irish: luaidhe
  • Italian: piombo m
  • Japanese: (なまり (namari)
  • Kazakh: къогъасын
  • Latin: plumbum
  • Latvian: svins
  • Lithuanian: švinas m
  • Luxembourgish: bläi
  • Macedonian: олово
  • Malay: plumbum
  • Maltese: Ċomb
  • Manx: leoaie
  • Modern Greek: μολυβδος (molubdos)
  • Mongolian: хар
  • Norwegian: bly
  • Persian: سرب (sorb)
  • Polish: ołów m
  • Portuguese: chumbo
  • Romanian: plumb n
  • Russian: свинец m
  • Scottish Gaelic: luaidh
  • Serbian: олово
  • Slovak: olovo
  • Slovenian: svinec
  • Spanish: plomo m
  • Swedish: bly
  • Tajik: surb
  • Thai: ตะกั้ว
  • Turkish: kurşun
  • Ukrainian: свинець
  • Uzbek: кўогъшсин
  • Vietnamese: chì
  • Welsh: plwm


Verb

lead, leaded, leading

  1. Cover, fill, or affect with lead; as, continuous firing leads the grooves of a rifle.
  2. (Printing) Place leads between the lines of; as, to lead a page; leaded matter.

Etymology 2

Middle English leden, from Old English lǣdan; Anglo Saxon ldan (akin to Old Saxon ldian, Dutch leiden, German leiten, Icelandic lea, Swedish leda, Danish lede), properly a causative from Anglo Saxon lian to go; akin to Old High German la, Icelandic la, Gothic leipan (in comparatives). Compare lode, loath

Pronunciation

Transitive verb

lead led, leading

  1. To guide or conduct with the hand, or by means of some physical contact connection; as, a father leads a child; a jockey leads a horse with a halter; a dog leads a blind man.
    Quotations
    • If a blind man lead a blind man, both fall down in the ditch. - John Wyclif on Matthew 15:14
    • They thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill. - Luke 4:29
    • In thy right hand lead with thee The mountain nymph, sweet Liberty. - John Milton
  2. To guide or conduct in a certain course, or to a certain place or end, by making the way known; to show the way, especially by going with or going in advance of, to lead a pupil; to guide somebody somewhere or to bring somebody somewhere by means of instructions. Hence, figuratively: To direct; to counsel; to instruct; as, to lead a traveler.
    Quotations
    • The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way. - Exodus 13:21
    • He leadeth me beside the still waters. - Psalms 23:2
    • This thought might lead me through the world's vain mask. Content, though blind, had I no better guide. Milton.
  3. To conduct or direct with authority; to have direction or charge of; as, to lead an army, an exploring party, or a search; to lead a political party; to command, especially a military or business unit
    Quotations
    • Christ took not upon him flesh and blood that he might conquer and rule nations, lead armies, or possess places. Robert South?. could be Wilton or Eudora.
  4. To go or to be in advance of; to precede; hence, to be foremost or chief among; as, the big sloop led the fleet of yachts; the Guards led the attack; Demosthenes leads the orators of all ages.
    Quotations
    • As Hesperus, that leads the sun his way. - Fairfax.
    • And lo ! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest. - Leigh Hunt
  5. To draw or direct by influence, whether good or bad; to prevail on; to induce; to entice; to allure; as, to lead one to espouse a righteous cause.
    Quotations
    • He was driven by the necessities of the times, more than led by his own disposition, to any rigor of actions. - Eikon Basilike
    • Silly women, laden with sins, led away by divers lusts. - 2 Timothy 3:6 (Revised Version).
  6. To guide or conduct one's self in, through, or along (a certain course); hence, to proceed in the way of; to follow the path or course of; to pass; to spend. Also, to cause (one) to proceed or follow in (a certain course).
    Quotations
    • That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life. - 1 Timothy 2:2
    • Nor thou with shadowed hint confuse A life that leads melodious days. - Alfred Tennyson
    • You remember . . . the life he used to lead his wife and daughter. - Charles Dickens
  7. (Cards and Dominoes): To begin a game, round, or trick, with; as, to lead trumps; the double five was led.
Derived expressions
Translations
  • Breton: ren, kas, bleinañ
  • Dutch: leiden (1,2),
  • Finnish: opastaa (1), ohjata (1), johdattaa (1), johtaa (2)
  • Frisian: stjoere (1), liede (2)
  • German: führen, leiten
  • Greek: (Ancient): ἄγω
  • Latin: ducere
  • Polish: prowadzić (1), dowodzić (2)
  • Russian: вести(1), возглавлять(2)


Intransitive verb

  1. To guide or conduct, as by accompanying, going before, showing, influencing, directing with authority, etc.; to have precedence or preëminence; to be first or chief; -- used in most of the senses of the transitive verb.
  2. To be ahead of others, e.g. in a race
  3. To have the highest interim score in a game
  4. To be more advanced in technology or business than others
  5. To tend or reach in a certain direction, or to a certain place; as, the path leads to the mill; gambling leads to other vices.
    Quotations
    • The mountain foot that leads towards Mantua. - Shakespeare, Two Gentlemen of Verona V-ii
  6. To lead off ∨ out, to go first; to begin.
Translations
  • Breton: bezañ e penn, bezañ o charreat
  • Català: guiar
  • Dutch: leiden, begeleiden, meevoeren
  • Finnish: johtaa (1, 2, 3), olla edellä (3)
  • French: conduire
  • German: führen
  • Indonesian: pimpin, bimbing, tffuntun
  • Italian: portare, guidare
  • Japanese: 導く (みちびく, michibiku)
  • Polish: prowadzić (1, 2), przodować (3)
  • Romanian: a conduce, a îndruma
  • Russian: лидировать(1), выигрывать(2), опережать(3)


pl:lead

Noun

lead

  1. The act of leading or conducting; guidance; direction; as, to take the lead; to be under the lead of another.
    Quotations
    • At the time I speak of, and having a momentary lead, . . . I am sure I did my country important service. - Edmund Burke
  2. Precedence; advance position; also, the measure of precedence; as, the white horse had the lead; a lead of a boat's length, or of half a second; the state of being ahead in a race; the highest score in a game in an incomplete game.
  3. (Cards and Dominoes): The act or right of playing first in a game or round; the card suit, or piece, so played; as, your partner has the lead.
  4. An open way in an ice field. - Elisha Kent Kane? could be Paul Kane
  5. (Mining): A lode
  6. (Nautical): The course of a rope from end to end.
  7. A rope, leather strap, or similar device with which to lead an animal; a leash
  8. (Steam Engine): The width of port opening which is uncovered by the valve, for the admission or release of steam, at the instant when the piston is at end of its stroke.
    Note: When used alone it means outside lead, or lead for the admission of steam. Inside lead refers to the release or exhaust.
  9. (Civil Engineering): the distance of haul, as from a cutting to an embankment.
  10. (Horology) The action of a tooth, as a tooth of a wheel, in impelling another tooth or a pallet. - Claudias Saunier
Derived expressions
Translations
  • Breton: roll m pl rolloù, delc'her en e roll / gant ar roll
  • Finnish: talutushihna (1), johtoasema (2), johto (2, 3), kärkitulos (3)


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WordNet Definitions

The noun "lead" has sixteen senses: The verb "lead" has fifteen senses:

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