lead
Meanings
noun
- 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, symbol Pb (from Latin plumbum).
- A plummet or mass of lead attached to a line, used in sounding depth at sea or to estimate velocity in knots.
- A thin strip of type metal, used to separate lines of type in printing.
- Vertical space in advance of a row or between rows of text. Also known as leading.
- Sheets or plates of lead used as a covering for roofs.
- A roof covered with lead sheets or terne plates.
- A thin cylinder of graphite used in pencils.
- Bullets; ammunition.
- X-ray protective clothing lined with lead.
verb
- To cover, fill, or affect with lead.
- To place leads between the lines of.
verb
- To guide or conduct.
- To guide or conduct with the hand, or by means of some physical contact connection.
- 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 guide somebody somewhere or to bring somebody somewhere by means of instructions.
- To direct; to counsel; to instruct.
- To conduct or direct with authority; to have direction or charge of; to command, especially a military or business unit.
- To draw or direct by influence, whether good or bad; to prevail on; to induce; to entice; to allure.
- To influence towards a belief, a conclusion, etc.
- To guide or conduct, as by accompanying, going before, showing, influencing, directing with authority, etc.; to have precedence or preeminence; to be first or chief; — used in most of the senses of the transitive verb.
- To begin, to be ahead.
- To go or to be in advance of; to precede; hence, to be foremost or chief among.
- To proceed in front of others; to go first.
- To be more advanced in technology or business than others.
noun
- The act of leading or conducting; guidance; direction, course
- Precedence; advance position; also, the measure of precedence; the state of being ahead in a race; the highest score in an incomplete game.
- An insulated metallic wire for electrical devices and equipment.
- The situation where a runner steps away from a base while waiting for the pitch to be thrown.
- The act or right of playing first in a game or round; the card suit, or piece, so played
- The main role in a play or film; the lead role.
- The actor who plays the main role; lead actor.
- The person in charge of a project or a work shift etc.
- A channel of open water in an ice field.
- A lode.
- The course of a rope from end to end.
- A rope, leather strap, or similar device with which to lead an animal; a leash
adj
- Foremost.
- Main, principal, primary, first, chief, foremost.
verb
- Misspelling of led.
name
- A civil parish in North Yorkshire, England.
- A city in Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States.
Pronunciation
Word forms
Etymology
From Middle English led, leed, from Old English lēad (“lead”), from Proto-West Germanic *laud (“lead”), possibly borrowed from Proto-Celtic *ɸloudom, from Proto-Indo-European *plewd- (“to flow”). Cognate with Scots leid, lede (“lead”), North Frisian lud, luad (“lead”), West Frisian lead (“lead”), Dutch lood (“lead”), Low German Lod (“solder, plummet”), German Lot (“solder, plummet, sounding line”), Swedish lod (“solder, plummet”), Icelandic lóð (“a plumb, weight”), Irish luaidhe (“lead”) Latin plumbum (“lead”), Finnish luoti (“bullet”). Doublet of loth. More at flow. * (graphite in a pencil): Graphite was once believed to be a form of lead; see black lead and plumbago.
Synonyms
Related words
Derived words
Translations
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