| 释义 |
▪ I. lead, n.1|lɛd|
Forms: 1–2 léad, 3 læd, 3–4 leod(e, 4 Kentish lyad, 3–6 led(e, 4–6 leyde, 4–7 leed(e, Sc. leid(e, 5–6 ledde, (6 dial. lydde), 5– 7 lead(e, 4– lead.
[OE. léad str. neut. = OFris. lâd, Du. lood lead, MLG. lôd (whence Sw. and Da. lod), MHG. lôt (mod.G. lot, loth) plummet, sounding-lead, also solder; cf. ON. lauð fem., doubtfully interpreted as ‘draw-plate for wire’ (Fritzner).
The OTeut. *lauđom:—Pre-Teut. *loudhom is cogn. with Irish luaidhe (:—*loudhiā fem.).]
I.
1. a. The heaviest of the base metals, of a dull pale bluish-gray colour, fusible at a low temperature, and very useful from its softness and malleability. Chemical symbol Pb. Rarely pl. = kinds of lead. † to lie, be wrapt in lead: to be buried in a lead coffin. So to lay, lap in lead: see lap v.2 3. Obs.
c900tr. Bæda's Hist. i. Introd. (1890) 26 Swylce hit [sc. þis land] is eac berende on wecga orum ares & isernes, leades & seolfres. c1205Lay. 5692 Ofte heo letten grund-hat læd [c 1275 leod] gliden heom an heore hæfd. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 208/272 Þe feondes welden led and bras. c1300Seyn Julian 171 A chetel he sette ouer þe fier, and fulde it uol of lede. c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 229 Þe patriark þe legate liggis in lede. 1340Ayenb. 141 Þe asse of þe melle þet ase bleþeliche berþ bere ase huite, and lyad ase þet corn. c1430Lydg. in Turner Dom. Archit. III. 39 Euery hous couerid was with leede. 1470–85Malory Arthur v. viii. 174 [He] leyd them in chestys of leed. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xxvi. 101 The feyndis gaif thame hait leid to laip. c1540Pilgr. T. 24 in Thynne's Animadv. (1865) App. i. 77 Houses of office on and other Where-on of leyd lay many a fowther. 1578Chr. Prayers 83 We Earles and Barons were sometime: Now wrapt in lead, are turnd to slime. 1611Shakes. Wint. T. iii. ii. 178 What studied torments (Tyrant) hast for me?.. What flaying? boyling? In Leads, or Oyles? 1753Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v., Lead and all its products turn into glass by a strong fire. 1855Cornwall 239 The Cornish and Devon leads are very rich in silver. 1871Roscoe Elem. Chem. 258 Lead does not occur free in nature.
†b. After L. use, lead was sometimes called black lead (= L. plumbum nigrum) in contradistinction to white lead (plumbum album), used as a name for tin. Obs.
1567J. Maplet Gr. Forest 13 There are two sortes of Lead, the one white, and the other black... That other black Lead is found most in Cantabrie. 1678R. R[ussell] Geber ii. i. ii. x. 59 The same Delusion they also find in Black Lead or Saturn. 1753Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Black-lead, The common lead being the true black lead, so called by way of contradistinction from tin, otherwise called white lead.
c. With allusion to its qualities; e.g. its weight, colour, want of elasticity, low value, etc., in both lit. and fig. expressions.
a1300Cursor M. 16454 Þai þe fine gold for-soke, and to þam to þe lede. 1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 11730 Þys Ananyas fyl downe dede As blak as any lede. c1425Wyntoun Cron. vii. x. 3623 Oure gold wes changyd in to lede. c1440York Myst. xviii. 20 Me thynke myne eyne hevye as leede. 1509Hawes Past. Pleas. xvii. (Percy Soc.) 76 Dyane derlyng pale as any leade. 1551Robinson tr. More's Utop. i. (1895) 102 They haue wrested and wriede hys [Christ's] doctryne, and lyke a rule of leade haue applyed yt to mennys maners. 1605Shakes. Macb. ii. i. 6 A heauie Summons lyes like Lead vpon me. 1606― Ant. & Cl. iii. xi. 72 Loue I am full of Lead. 1646W. Jenkyn Remora 9 Shall our Reformation have an heel of lead? 1656Bp. Hall Breathings Devout Soul (1851) 200 Pull this lead out of my bosom. 1725Young Love Fame ii. 158 How just his grief? one carrys in his head A less proportion of the father's lead. 1798Coleridge Anc. Mar. vii. viii, The ship went down like lead. 1861J. Edmond Children's Church at Home x. 157 He might have left everything the colour of lead. 1927Amer. Speech Mar. 278/1 Shake out the lead, start action. 1942Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §578/26 Get the lead out of your pants, to play allegro. 1948F. Brown Dead Ringer i. 15 Quit asking..questions and get the lead out. 1961Lebende Sprachen VI. 101/1 He's as lazy as they come, he's got lead in his pants, shoes. 1964Wodehouse Frozen Assets vi. 115 She knows I'm in imminent danger of dying of malnutrition unless she takes the lead out of her pants and gets a move on with that picture. 1967― Company for Henry xii. 207 Those wedding bells aren't going to ring if you don't take the lead out of your pants and get a move on.
d. With defining prefix, as cast-lead, milled-lead, pig-lead, pot-lead, sheet-lead, for which see the first element.
2. red lead: a red oxide of lead obtained from litharge by exposing it to hot air, much used as a pigment; = minium. white lead (or simply lead): a mixture of lead carbonate and hydrated lead oxide, much used as a pigment; = ceruse. blue lead: see blue 12 c.
c1450ME. Med. Bk. (Heinrich) 203 Tak..iij quarter of whyt led Tak a quart of oile and red led. 1658W. Sanderson Graphice 54 Most excellent pure Virgin Colours are Ceruse and White leade. 1686Phil. Trans. XVI. 27 Red-lead, a colour unknown to the Antients. 1716Swift Progr. Beauty Wks. 1755 III. ii. 165 White lead was sent us to repair..A lady's face, and China ware. 1753Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v., The common calx of lead, red lead. 1827R. Nesbit in J. M. Mitchell Mem. iii. (1858) 80 It [the idol] was painted with red lead. 1844Fownes Chem. 294 Red oxide; red lead. Ibid. 295 Carbonate of lead; white lead.
3. Short for black lead n., graphite, or plumbago. Only with reference to its use as a material for pencils. Hence, a small stick of graphite for filling an ‘ever-pointed’ pencil. Phr. lead in one's pencil: implying (esp. sexual) vigour in a male.
1816Jane Austen Emma III. iv. 54 When he took out his pencil, there was so little lead that he soon cut it all away. 1840Penny Cycl. XVII. 402/1 Pencils are commonly marked with certain letters to denote the quality of the lead, as H for hard, B for black [etc.].. Most [ever-pointed pencil] cases are made with a reservoir at the top, in which a supply of five or six leads may be carried. 1881W. M. Williams in Knowledge No. 4. 67 A thin stick..like vermicelli, or the ‘leads’ of ever-pointed pencils. 1922S. Lewis Babbitt i. 9 A silver pencil (always lacking a supply of new leads). 1941Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 43 (This will) put some lead in your pencil, this (esp. a drink of beer or spirits) will make you feel fighting fit. 1946P. Larkin Jill 190 ‘Well, ere's more lead in yer pencil.’ He finished off his half-pint. 1969[see curl v.1 1 c]. 1970Kay's Catal. (Worcester) Autumn–Winter 947/3 Pencil both propels and retracts, contains twelve 3 inch leads. 1970A. Draper Swansong for Rare Bird vii. 59 She came over with two glasses. ‘If that doesn't put some lead in your pencil, Auk, I don't know what will.’ 1972D. Lees Zodiac 107 The couscous is supposed to put lead in your pencil but with Daria I needed neither a talking point nor an aphrodisiac.
4. a. The metal regarded as fashioned into some object, e.g. † a seal, † the plummet of a plumb-line, † a pipe or conduit, a leaden coffin, a bullet, the leaden part of anything. (cold) lead, bullets.
1340Ayenb. 150 He deþ al..to þe line and to þe reule and to þe leade and to þe leuele. Ibid. 151 Efterward he proueþ ofte his work mid lead. c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 309 Men of þis world dreden more þe popis leed. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, v. iii. 35 Heauen keepe Lead out of mee. 1598Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. i. Eden 58 Let not me..be like the Lead Which to some City from some Conduit-head Brings wholsome Water. c1650Balow iv. in Laneham's Let. (1871) Pref. 172 The iudge of heavin and hell By some predestined deadlie lead,..hath struke him dead. 1771Burke Corr. (1844) I. 330 My passions are not to be roused..by those who lie in their cold lead. 1809T. G. Fessenden Pills Poetical 32 Thus our sporting democrats,..When they can't reason with a Fed, In logick substitute cold lead. 1837W. H. Wharton Let. in Ann. Rep. Amer. Hist. Assoc. 1907 (1908) II. 190 We would give Mexico nothing but lead. 1884Law Times Rep. LI. 161/2 The attachments to buildings were made..by a bolt screwed into the lead of the ridge. 1887Times (weekly ed.) 23 Dec. 6/1 If you don't stand loyal..you will get the lead. 1891M. E. Ryan Told in Hills 332 [The message] belongs to the command, and I may get a dose of cold lead before I could deliver it. 1918C. Sandburg Cornhuskers 50 Three riders emptied lead into him. 1964F. O'Rourke Mule for Marquesa 146 Get 'em up or we'll pump you full of lead!
†b. A plate of lead. Obs.
1523Fitzherb. Husb. §122 Layde vpon..a thynne sclate or leed.
5. a. A large pot, cauldron, or kettle; a large open vessel used in brewing and various other operations. (Originally, one made of lead, but early used without reference to the material.) Now only dial. b. dial. A leaden milk-pan.
a.a1100Gerefa in Anglia (1886) IX. 264 Hwer, lead, cytel, etc. c1250Death 242 in O.E. Misc. 182 Also beoð his eȝe-puttes ase a bruþen led. c1300Havelok 924 Y shal..make the broys in the led. 13..in Archiv Stud. neu. Spr. LXXIX. 449/62 A lede of bras then did he bring with pik fullfilled. 1370–80XI Pains Hell 37 in O.E. Misc. App. iii. 224 Þer weore þei turmented in þo ledes. 1382Wyclif 1 Sam. ii. 14 He putte it [the fleshhook] into the leede or into the cawdroun. c1386Chaucer Prol. 202 His eyen stepe, and rollinge in his heed, That stemed as a forneys of a leed. 1428Surtees Misc. (1888) 6 Yt suld hafe brynt oute his lede bothom. c1430Two Cookery-bks. 39 Caste hym to seþe with þin grete Fleysshe, in lede oþer in Cauderoun. 1504Bury Wills (Camden) 101, I will that they shall haue all brewyng ledys. 1552Lyndesay Monarche 5103 Sum, brynt; sum, soddin in to leiddis. 1575Gamm. Gurton iv. ii, Haue you not..behind your furnace or leade, A hole where a crafty knaue may crepe in for neade? 1639T. de la Grey Compl. Horsem. 137 Put all these into a lead or chalderon. 1869Lonsdale Gloss., Leäd, a vat for dyeing.
b.1750W. Ellis Mod. Husbandm. III. 129 To improve Cream. To do this, take a Pint or more of Stroakings,..and divide it into several Pans, or Leads, or Kivers. 1813Vancouver Agric. Devon 232 Dairy utensils, consisting of leads, kettles, pans..&c. 1895‘Rosemary’ Under the Chilterns ii. 69 Rose always scoured the great ‘leads’..and left no half-cleaned corners to taint the milk.
6. a. A ‘bob’ or lump of lead suspended by a string to ascertain the depth of water; a sounding-lead. Phrases, to cast, heave the lead. to arm the lead: to fill the hollow in the lead with tallow in order to discover the nature of the bottom by the substances adhering (Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 1867 s.v. Arm). † Also, the leaden sinker of a net.
c1440York Myst. ix. 199, I sall caste leede and loke þe space. c1485Digby Myst. (1882) iii. 1440 Cast a led, & In vs gyde. 1597Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 1187 Their leid ay..Micht warn them. 1613J. Dennys Secrets of Angling i. xix, Then on that Linke hang Leads of euen waight. 1626Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Sea-men 29 Heaue the lead. 1628Digby Voy. Medit. (1868) 13, I sent my shalloppes out with leades to sound the depth. 1657Trapp Comm. Ps. xxv. 1 The best heart is lumpish, and naturally beareth downward, as the poise of a clock, as the lead of a net. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1780) M m 4 Sounding with the hand-lead..is called heaving the lead by seamen. 1836Marryat Midsh. Easy xxx, A man..lowering down the lead, sounded in seven fathoms. 1840― Poor Jack xxxv, We ran through the Swin by the lead. 1860Merc. Marine Mag. VII. 248 The lead used..was the ordinary hand-lead of 9 lbs. instead of the deep sea-lead of 28 to 32 lbs.
b. Phr. to swing the lead: to idle, to shirk; to malinger. slang. Hence in similar phrs. and in Comb., as lead-swing n. and v. intr., -swinger, -swinging vbl. n. and ppl. a.
1917To-Day 6 Jan. 243/3 It is evident that he had ‘swung the lead’ (using Army phrase) until he got his discharge. 1918B. K. Adams Let. 25 Jan. in Amer. Spirit 71 Lead-swingers are those that stall along, doing as little as they possibly can, hoping the war will be over before they finish. 1922C. E. Montague Disenchantment iv. 56 Then grey hairs should be a lot of use to you..when you want to get swinging the lead. 1927A. Brosnan At Number 15 i. 30 ‘If they wanted a three-man job done they had to put forty on to it to make sure it was done.’ ‘And so they did. That's organisation, that is. Of course, there was some lead-swingers.’ 1927Daily Express 2 Mar. 3/4 He said he..had been ‘swinging the lead’ for the purpose of getting a permanent pension. 1930S. Beckett Whoroscope 1 The vile old Copernican lead-swinging son of a sutler! 1939R. Campbell Flowering Rifle ii. 60 It was not we who lead-swung to the Pities, When half the loveliest of our ancient cities Were in the clouds rebuilt. 1940J. B. Priestley Postscripts 70 A wary..old soldier, a lead-swinger, a dodger of the column. 1952M. Allingham Tiger in Smoke iv. 77 He went sick... It was so hopeless, so damned silly and forlorn as a lead-swing that in the end he got away with it. 1957A. Grimble Return to Islands ii. 32 Their number was not without its natural quota of cheerful leadswingers. 1968Manch. Guardian Weekly 12 Sept. 9 Mr. Crossman..insisted that ‘lead swinging’ among the unemployed was confined to a very small minority. 1969Daily Tel. 8 Jan. 26/1 Overall absenteeism in the coal⁓fields is running slightly higher than last year... Out of this total, 4·66 per cent. is classified as voluntary absenteeism (‘lead-swinging’). 1972Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 12 Feb. 4/1 The mayor of Victoria accuses the four Greater Victoria members of the legislature of lead-swinging. 1973Daily Tel. 29 Aug. 6/3 ‘It would soon put a stop to lead-swingers who take a few days off to paint the house or watch cricket,’ the doctor added.
7. pl.
a. The sheets or strips of lead used to cover a roof; often collect. for a lead flat, a lead roof, † occas. construed as sing.b. The lead frames of the panes in lattice or stained glass windows.
a.1578–9in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 538 Mending the leddes over the librarie chambers. 1588Bp. Andrewes Serm. Spittle (1641) 5 He looketh downe on his brethren, as if he stood on the top of a Leads. 1625Bacon Ess., Building (Arb.) 550 A Goodly Leads upon the Top, railed with Statua's interposed. a1635Corbet Iter Bor. (1647) 133 Gardens cover howses there like leades. 1726Leoni Alberti's Archit. I. 78 Leads or Terrasses from whence the Soldiers may be molested with stones or darts. 1760C. Johnston Chrysal (1822) I. 238 A cat..whom she used to meet in the evenings, upon the leads of the house. 1824Scott Redgauntlet ch. xiii, Trumbull..clambered out upon the leads. 1873Dixon Two Queens II. vii. vi. 42 A blare of trumpets from the leads told every one..that [etc.].
b.1705Hearne Collect. 8 Nov. (O.H.S.) I. 68 After the Examination of the Books, & a slight view of the Leads. 1885F. Miller Glass Painting vii. 69 It gives the effect of weakness to see large pieces of glass leaded with narrow leads.
8. Printing. A thin strip of type-metal or brass, less than type-high, of varying thickness and length, used in type-composition to separate lines; before 1800 known as space-line.
1808C. Stower Printer's Gram. 515 Leads, 4 to a pica, per pound, 1s. 10d. 1824J. Johnson Typogr. II. 125 All measures are made to pica m's, and all leads are cast to m's of the above body. 1848Craig, Leads or space lines. 1889Harper's Mag. Apr. 819/1 A newspaper which..avoids double leads..and all forms of typographical hysteria.
9. In the knitting-machine: The lead or tin socket holding the shanks of one or more needles.
1839Ure Dict. Arts 650 In order to fit the needles for the frame, they are now cast into the tin sockets, or leads as they are called by the workmen.
II. attrib. and Comb.
10. simple attrib. passing into adj. Made (wholly or partly) of lead, consisting of lead.
1379Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 103 Et de j Ledepan. 1422Surtees Misc. (Surtees) 16 Yat the lede pype and the shelfs be the wyfe's of Symond of Stele. 1811Scott Biog. Notices Prose Wks. (1870) IV. 273 The copies had hung on the bookseller's hands as heavy as a pile of lead bullets. 1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 362 Lead pipes are sometimes cast in an iron mould, made in two halves. 1868Rep. to Govt. U.S. Munitions of War App. 286 These [Gatling] guns discharge half-pound solid lead-balls.
11. General comb.:
a. attributive, as lead-colour, lead-glaze, lead-grain, † lead-groove, lead-mine, lead-miner, lead-ore, lead-slag, lead-vein.
1658Rowland tr. Mouffet's Theat. Ins. 909 Poysoned Honey..staines the honey-comb with a Kinde of *Lead-colour. 1823P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 416 Of the Compound Colours, Lead colour is of indigo and white.
1842Parnell Chem. Anal. (1845) 276 A porcelain bason having a *lead glaze.
a1728Woodward Nat. Hist. Fossils i. (1729) I. 207 *Lead-Grains so pure as nearly to approach the Fineness of Virgin Lead.
c1750J. Nelson Jrnl. (1836) 84 A great company of men that worked in the *lead-groves.
1653E. Manlove (title) The Liberties and Cvstomes of the *Lead-Mines. 1665Boyle Occas. Refl. i. iii. heading, Wandring..among cover'd Lead-mines that he knew not of.
1761Wesley Jrnl. 9 June, Most of the men are *lead-miners.
1653E. Manlove Lead-Mines 4 If any..there *Lead-oar may get. 1661–9Boyle Physiol. Ess. ii. i. 52 So unlike common Lead-Oar, that the workmen upon that account are pleased to call it Steel-Oar. 1854Ronalds & Richardson Chem. Technol. (ed. 2) I. 108 More adapted for smelting some lead-ores than the others.
1864Watts Dict. Chem. II. 523 Analyses of *Lead-slags from Blast Furnace.
a1728Woodward Nat. Hist. Fossils i. (1729) I. 159 Out of a *Lead-Vein..in Wales. 1874Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 313 Lead-veins, rich in silver.
b. objective, as lead-burner, lead-carving, lead-smelting (also attrib.); obj. genitive, as lead-free adj.
1894Daily News 6 Sept. 6/7 M― W―, *lead burner, brother of the deceased, said [etc.].
1748Lady Luxborough Let. to Shenstone Easter Sunday, The present fashion at London, is all *lead-carving.
1946*lead-free [see lead glass, sense 12]. 1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 16 Feb. Suppl. 36/2 Sow Feeder..painted [with] one coat lead-free paint. 1970Guardian 13 Apr. 13/4 Lead-free petrol. 1973Country Life 29 Mar. 854/1 Modifications were also made to the engine to enable it to run on lead-free fuels.
1877Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining p. viii, *Lead-smelting blast-furnaces. Ibid. 296 Lead-smelting ores can be produced.
c. instrumental, as lead-covered, lead-lapped, lead-lined, lead-ruled, lead-sheathed adjs.
1891Kipling Light that Failed xiii. 253 A hall at the foot of some *lead-covered stairs. 1908Westm. Gaz. 22 Apr. 8/3 Over twenty miles of lead-covered cables have been laid in the grounds.
1830Scott Doom Devorgoil i. i, The dry bones of *lead-lapp'd ancestors.
1828J. M. Spearman Brit. Gunner (ed. 2) 120 Cartridges..packed in *Lead-lined Barrels and Cases. 1895E. A. Parkes Health 25 Lead-lined cisterns are, on the whole, better avoided.
1871R. Ellis tr. Catullus xxii. 8 The parchment-case *Lead-ruled.
1691T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. 8 *Lead-sheathed Ships. 1948G. V. Galwey Lift & Drop vi. 137 The leads to the switchgear were buried. They were lead-sheathed.
d. parasynthetic, as lead-coloured, lead-lidded adjs.e. similative, esp. with adjs. of colour, as lead-blue, lead-brown, lead-grey; lead-like adj. and adv.
1882–4Yarrell's Brit. Birds (ed. 4) III. 505 Legs and toes pale blue, becoming *lead-blue a few days after death.
1897M. Kingsley W. Africa 90 A slope of smooth and *lead-brown slime.
1611Cotgr., Plombasse,..*lead coloured. 1825J. Neal Bro. Jonathan III. 378 Spanish brown, or lead coloured roofs.
1837Gosse in Life (1890) 107 The insects were..of a *lead-grey colour.
1856G. H. Boker Calaynos iii. ii, Robs the *lead-lidded god of many an hour.
1842Tennyson St. Sim. Styl. 25 Those *lead-like tons of sin. 1816Byron Siege Cor. xiii, The mail weighed lead-like on his breast.
12. a. Special combs.: lead accumulator, a lead-acid cell or battery; lead-acid a., applied to a secondary cell or battery in which the anode is a plate or grid of lead (or lead alloy) coated with lead dioxide, the cathode is a similar plate coated with spongy lead, and both are immersed in dilute sulphuric acid; lead-arming, the tallow used for ‘arming’ a lead (see 6); lead-ash, -ashes, litharge; lead-back (U.S.), the American dunlin (Cent. Dict.); lead balloon, a failure, an unsuccessful venture; lead-bath, (a) the mass of melted lead in a lead-furnace; (b) the molten lead with which gold and silver ores are melted before cupellation; lead bronze, bronze containing lead, which is used in bearings; lead bullion, a mixture of lead and other heavy metals obtained as an intermediate product in the extraction of lead; lead burning, the welding of lead; so lead-burn v. trans., to weld (pieces of lead); lead cell, a lead-acid cell; lead chamber, a large reaction vessel made of welded sheet lead which is used in the manufacture of sulphuric acid from sulphur dioxide, air, and steam using oxides of nitrogen as catalysts; so lead chamber process; lead-comb, a comb made of lead, used for the purpose of darkening the hair; lead crystal [crystal n. 5] = lead glass below; † lead-dust (see quot.); lead-eater dial. (see quot. 1855); lead-flat (see quots.); † lead foam, the oxide skimmed from the surface of molten lead; lead-foot a. = leaden-footed; lead glance [= Du. loodglans], galena; lead glass, glass containing a substantial proportion of lead oxide; lead-glaze Pottery, a glaze containing lead oxide; so lead-glazed adj., lead-glazier, lead-glazing vbl. n.; † lead-house, ? a plumber's shop; † lead-lath, ? a batten for laying a leaden roof upon; lead-light, a window in which small panes are fixed in leaden cames, also attrib.; lead-line, (a) a sounding-lead or plumb-line; (b) a line loaded with leaden weights, running along the bottom of a net; (c) a bluish grey line along the gums at their junction with the teeth, indicating lead-poisoning; (d) the narrow strip of lead between two pieces of stained glass; a came; so lead-line v. trans., to put the lead-lines in (stained glass work); † lead-lustre, lead oxide used as a glaze; † lead-mall, ? a leaden mallet or a mallet for beating lead; lead-man, (a) a dealer in lead; (b) a lead-miner; lead-marcasite, ? zinc blende (see quot.); lead-mill, (a) an establishment for producing milled or sheet lead; (b) (see quot. 1864); lead-nail (mostly pl.), a nail used to fasten a sheet of lead on a roof; lead-ochre = massicot; lead-paper, a test-paper treated with a preparation of lead; hence lead-papered a., covered with or containing lead-paper; † lead-pen, ? a metallic pencil for ruling lines; lead-pencil, a pencil of graphite, often enclosed in cedar or other wood; lead-plant (U.S.), a shrub (Amorpha canescens) found in the west of the Mississippi valley, and believed to indicate the presence of lead ore; lead-plaster = diachylon; lead-poisoning, poisoning (acute or chronic) by the introduction of lead into the system; lead-pot, a pot or crucible for melting lead; † lead-pound, a measure of weight; lead ratio, the ratio, in a sample of rock, of the quantity of lead (or a lead isotope) to the quantity of its radioactive parents uranium and thorium (or an appropriate isotope of one of these elements), from which the age of the sample may be determined; lead-reeve (see quot.); lead-sinker (see quot. 1875); lead-soap (see quot.); lead-spar = anglesite or cerussite; lead-sugar (see quot.); lead-tin a., containing lead and tin; also ellipt., a lead-tin alloy; lead-tree, (a) Bot., a West Indian name for the tropical leguminous tree, Leucæna Glauca; (b) a crystalline deposit of metallic lead or zinc that has been placed in a solution of acetate of lead; lead-vitriol = anglesite; † lead-walling Salt-making (see quot.); lead-wash = lead-water; lead-water (= G. bleiwasser), dilute solution of acetate of lead (Syd. Soc. Lex. 1888); lead wool, lead in a fibrous state, used for caulking pipe joints; lead-work, plumber's work and material; work in lead esp. glaziers' work; lead-works pl., an establishment for smelting lead-ore; lead-wort, a herbaceous plant of southern Europe (Plumbago Europæa); also, any plant of the genus Plumbago or the order Plumbagineæ.
1903Chem. News 17 July 34/2 Dr. Lehfeldt's paper on ‘The Total and Free Energy of the *Lead Accumulator’ was taken as read. 1928Crennell & Lea Alkaline Accumulators i. 5 The lead accumulator suffers from certain inherent defects of which the most important are a rather large weight for a given capacity, [etc.]. 1971G. F. Liptrot Mod. Inorg. Chem. xviii. 242 The voltage supplied by the lead accumulator is just in excess of 2 volts.
1926W. S. Ibbetson Accumulator Charging iii. 26 Fig. 7 illustrates the actions and results of charging and discharging a simple *lead acid cell. 1936Motor Manual (ed. 29) iv. 78 The lead-acid type [of battery] is that most general as its cost is much lower. 1972Dry Cells, Batteries & Accumulators iii. 36 Lead-acid accumulators have a good life in terms of charge/discharge cycles. 1974Railway Mag. Apr. 176/2 The locomotive interior is taken up by no less than 160 lead-acid battery cells, giving a 300V supply.
1882Ogilivie, *Lead ash, the slag of lead.
1523–4in Swayne Churchw. Acc. Sarum (1896) 67 For *lede asches iijd. 1799G. Smith Laboratory I. 193 One of lead ashes.
1960Wentworth & Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang 314/2 *Lead balloon, a failure; a plan, joke, action or the like that elicits no favorable response; a flop; anything that lays an egg. 1962L. Deighton Ipcress File xxv. 158 With this boy it went over like a lead balloon. 1970Sunday Times 19 Apr. 31/3 What the Dickens? was a lead balloon literary quiz wherein the experts showed only how little they knew.
1839Ure Dict. Arts 754 The smelter throws a shovelful of small coal or coke cinder upon the *lead bath. 1875Knight Dict. Mech., Lead-bath.
1937H. N. Bassett Bearing Metals & Alloys viii. 296 Under the general title of *lead bronzes are included..the copper-tin-lead alloys..and the so-called ‘tin-free’ bronzes. 1951Engineering 6 July 1/3 The main and big⁓end bearings are all fitted with steel shells, lined with lead-bronze. 1967Jane's Surface Skimmer Systems 1967–68 123/2 Crankshaft... Lead-bronze bearings with steel cups.
1905A. H. Low Technical Methods Ore Analysis viii. 56 The determination of bismuth in impure lead or *lead bullion may be carried out on the same lines as described for refined lead. 1954W. H. Dennis Metall. Non-Ferrous Metals iv. 242 The crude lead bullion may contain up to 4 per cent of these reduced metallics. 1963Times 22 Apr. p. iv/4 This plant is producing about 40,000 tons of good ordinary brand zinc annually together with lead bullion and by-product cadmium and sulphuric acid.
1886D. Salomons Managem. Accumulators 14 It is frequently necessary to perform the operation of soldering or *lead burning. 1937Archit. Rev. XXXI. 272/2 Leadburning is a variety of welding. As a process it has been known for centuries, but only since the invention of the gas welding flame have its possibilities been fully exploited. Ibid. 270 (caption) After casting the flat sheets [of lead] are bent round and the joint lead-burned to form the point. 1963H. R. Clauser Encycl. Engin. Materials 368/2 Lead welding, commonly called lead burning, produces a true weld by fusing the parts together without the addition of any different material.
1897Physical Rev. IV. 353 We owe the discovery of the *lead cell to Planté. 1928Crennell & Lea Alkaline Accumulators ix. 121 The energy, or watt-hour, efficiency of alkaline cells is about 50–55 per cent., as compared with 75 per cent. for lead cells.
1867Chem. News 5 July 12/1 (heading) *Lead-chamber process. Ibid., This explains the loss of nitric acid in the manufacture of sulphuric acid, which always takes place when the sulphuric acid in the lead-chamber is below the normal strength. 1909L. Kahlenberg Outl. Chem. xiii. 198 There are commonly three lead chambers, so connected that the gases enter the top of each and pass out at the bottom. 1946J. R. Partington Gen. & Inorg. Chem. xxiv. 710 The lead chamber plant..consists of (i) pyrites (or sulphur) burners, (ii) a dust separator.., (iii) a nitre oven.., (iv) a Glover tower, (v) a series of lead chambers with arrangements for supplying steam or water spray, and (vi) a Gay-Lussac tower. 1969H. T. Evans tr. Hägg's Gen. & Inorg. Chem. xxi. 529 The reaction takes place in reaction chambers, formerly lead chambers, that is, large lead-lined rooms, but now most often of other types. 1973Thomas & Farago Industr. Chem. viii. 133 The lead-chamber process is by no means obsolete.., and is likely to remain in operation for the production of acid not exceeding 78 per cent in concentration..and where high purity is not essential.
1715Garth Claremont 96 Nor yet *lead-comb was on the toilet plac'd.
1902J. D. & A. Everett tr. Hovestadt's Jena Glass x. 364 Foerster recalls the fact that the resisting power of *lead crystal glass to acids is increased by long-continued exposure to acids. Were it otherwise, the use of this material for wine glasses would long ago have been given up. 1968Canad. Antiques Collector Dec. 19/2 When lead crystal came into fashion about 1800, it was possible to cut the glass in glittering facets. 1969R. F. Lang tr. Henglein's Chem. Technol. 835 Lead crystal contains lead (instead of Ca) and potassium and has high light refraction; it is much used in colored glasses.
1727–41Chambers Cycl., *Lead Dust, is a preparation used by the potters; made by throwing charcoal dust into melted lead, and stirring them a long time together. 1788–9*Lead-eater [see caoutchouc 1]. 1855Robinson Whitby Gloss., Lead-eater, Indian-rubber, for removing pencil marks on paper.
a1877Knight Dict. Mech. II. 1270/1 *Lead-flat, a level roof consisting of sheet-lead laid on boarding and joists. 1907W. De Morgan Alice-for-Short xxv. 259 Charles remembers the lead-flat sunk in the roof. 1940Chambers's Techn. Dict. 491/2 Lead-flat, a flat roof formed of sheet-lead laid on boarding and joists.
1552Huloet, *Leade fome or spume, molybditis.
1896K. Tynan Lover's Breast-Knot 15 *Lead-foot, slow, Did the day round to evening-flame?
1810J. T. in Risdon's Surv. Devon p. xv, Lead is found in the state of galena or *lead glance. 1843Portlock Geol. 181 Lead glance is also occasionally, but not frequently met with, in small masses.
[1830Phil. Trans. R. Soc. CXX. 43 The tri-borate of *lead glass is almost as colourless as good flint glass.] 1856W. A. Miller Elem. Chem. II. xi. 764 Lead glass has..the inconvenience of being readily scratched. 1946Nature 26 Oct. 582/1 Colouring oxides such as iron, copper, etc., all produce more intense colours in heavy lead glasses than in ordinary lead-free glasses. 1965Phillips & Williams Inorg. Chem. I. xiv. 546 Special glasses are made by adding other oxides: for example, lead glasses have a high refractive index and are used in crystal and flint glass.
1899Westm. Gaz. 27 Mar. 6/2 There seems no reason..why..the operatives should still continue to be exposed to the evils which the use of *lead-glaze entails. 1969Canad. Antiques Collector Jan. 28/3 Lead and lustre glazes came early from the Near East.
1901Daily News 3 Dec. 3/7 He states that there is no difference now in price between the *lead glazed and leadless glazed ware. 1968J. Arnold Shell Bk. Country Crafts 231 Medieval pottery was mainly in the form of lead-glazed earthenware..and was known as faience or majolica.
1908Westm. Gaz. 23 Nov. 9/3 The deceased came under his notice twelve years ago, when he was a *lead-glazier. 1962H. R. Loyn Anglo-Saxon Eng. iii. 110 The so-called Stamford ware, utilizing a type of *lead-glazing that may have originated in the Netherlands, appears to have spread from East Anglia.
1424Mem. Ripon (Surtees 1888) III. 152 Item Ricardo Horner circa *ledhows a festo Annunciacionis Beatæ Mariæ usque ad Pascha per xv dies et di{ddd} 7s 9d.
1466in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) III. 93 The said Roofe shal haue sufficient *leedlathis of herty ooke sufficiently dried.
1844Catholic Weekly Instructor 103 Fixing a small copper gutter at the bottom of each *lead-light. 1895Jrnl. R. Inst. Brit. Archit. 14 Mar. 350 All lead-light windows should have iron casements.
1485Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 51 *Leede lynes..j. 1839Bailey Festus xx. (1848) 248 Deeper than ever leadline went. 1879St. George's Hosp. Rep. IX. 100 The tobacconist had a ‘lead line’ on the gums. 1907W. De Morgan Alice-for-Short xxvii. 283 I'll lend you a hand over the lead-lines. Ibid. xii. 136 It was Pope's man, Buttivant, who lead-lines up all the windows. 1973Harrison & Waters Burne-Jones iv. 50 All the designers had to supply were the cartoons, which were quite often bold drawings without indication of lead lines.
1485Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 39 *Lede malles feble..xiiij.
1497in Ld. Treas. Acc. Scot. (1877) I. 350 Item, to the *lede man, making ledin pellokkis. 1625Bacon Ess., Riches (Arb.) 235 A Great Colliar, A Great Corne Master, a Great Lead-man. 1633B. Jonson Love's Welc. Welbeck, Such a light and metall'd Dance Saw you never yet in France, And by Lead-men, for the nonce, That turne round like grindle-stones. 1889Times 28 Nov. 5/6 Relaying a whole sheet of lead for a single crack is doubtless delightful to the leadmen.
a1728Woodward Nat. Hist. Fossils i. (1729) I. 183 A *Lead-Marcasite..much like the Potters Lead-Ore..The Miners call this Mock-Ore, Mock-Lead, Wild-Lead, and Blinde.
1863P. Barry Dockyard Econ. 109 Chatham has a monopoly of the dockyard lead manufacture. During the year the *lead-mill turned out 21,852 cwt. 1 qr. 21 lb. 1864Craig Suppl., Lead-mill, a circular plate of lead used by the lapidary for grinding or roughing.
1354Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 92 In ccc *lednayle emp. 12d. 1476–7Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 95 Sol. pro iiijc ledenale..12d. 1536–7Ibid. (Surtees) 698, 100 leydnall', 5d. 1869Lonsdale Gloss., Leäd-nails.
1899J. Cagney tr. Jaksch's Clin. Diagn. v. (ed. 4) 159 The brown or black stain upon the *lead-paper will again show the presence of hydrochloric acid. 1922Joyce Ulysses 659 A crinkled leadpaper bag. Ibid. 70 He..read the legends of leadpapered packets. 1952M. Allingham Tiger in Smoke vi. 108 The final covering was a piece of lead paper off a tobacco package.
1682Wilding in Collect. (O.H.S.) I. 255 For Paper, Inkhorne, and *Lead pen..00 01 05. a1693Urquhart's Rabelais iii. xxv. 203 He with a White Lead Pen..drew a..Number of..Points.
1688R. Holme Armoury iii. iii. 144/2 Black and red *Lead Pencils. 1704Lond. Gaz. No. 4044/1 A Letter..written on Horseback with a Lead-Pencil. 1863Emerson Misc. Papers, Thoreau Wks. (Bohn) III. 324 A manufacturer of lead-pencils.
1833A. Eaton Man. Bot. (ed. 6) 15 Amorpha canescens, *lead plant... Somewhat woody... Galena. 1848W. H. Emory Notes Mil. Reconn. 399 The lead plant, or tea plant..is in some places so abundant as to displace almost every other herb. 1939Nat. Geogr. Mag. Aug. 220/1 Chief among the peas is a group of close relatives: lead plant,..prairie clovers, together with indigo plant.
1865*Lead-plaster [see lead-soap].
1841–2T. D. Mitchell in Western & Southern Med. Recorder (Lexington, Kentucky) I. 145 (title) Practical notes on *lead poisoning. 1878J. S. Bristowe Theory & Pract. Med. 617 Chronic lead-poisoning. 1972National Observer (U.S.) 27 May 10/1 The American Smelting and Refining Co. of New Jersey was accused in a civil suit of unduly polluting the air and environment with its huge smelters here and of causing lead poisoning in at least 135 children.
13..Measures of Weight in Rel. Ant. I. 70 Sex waxpunde makiet .j. *leedpound.
1920Discovery Apr. 111/2 It is of course obvious that, if a mineral is altered, it has suffered chemical changes whereby the normal *lead ratio is upset, for either introduction or elimination of lead may have taken place. Ibid. 112/1 In some cases the lead-ratio can be used..for determining the geological position of rocks which yield their age to no other method of investigation. 1946F. E. Zeuner Dating the Past x. 325 In practice, the analyst measures the total amount of lead present, and the expression Pbtotal/(U + 0·36 Th), accounting for the presence of both uranium and thorium, is the one which has to be determined in every case. It is called the ‘lead-ratio’.
1687Mining Laws in Collinson Hist. Somerset I. 117 Any miner who finds himself aggrieved complains to an officer called the *Led reeve.
1829Glover's Hist. Derby i. 242 The improvement (on the stocking-frame)..consisted in applying the *lead-sinkers, which are still in use. 1875Knight Dict. Mech., Lead-Sinker (Knitting-machine), one of the devices which alternate with the jack⁓sinkers in the depression of the loops between the needles.
1865Watts Dict. Chem. III. 564 *Lead-soaps, lead-salts of the fat-acids. Common lead-plaster is a preparation of this kind.
1821R. Jameson Man. Min. 85 Accompanied with galena or lead-glance, and *lead-spars.
1852Seidel Organ 122 The oxygen contained in the atmosphere is imparted to bad brass, and produces what is called *lead-sugar..which is eagerly sought and consumed by mice.
1889Jrnl. Chem. Soc. LV. 677 The first alloys experimented on were the *lead-tin alloys. 1890Ibid. LVIII. 336 The two alloys always correspond with two cognate points on the solubility curves of zinc in lead-tin, and of lead in zinc-tin. 1928H. H. Cowley Mod. Electr. Wiring iv. 54 Either copper or lead-tin alloy is generally employed for ordinary wire fuses. 1931G. O. Russell Speech & Voice viii. 67 The author has a lead-tin, round-walled open organ pipe. 1956Monogr. & Rep. Ser. Inst. Metals No. 18. 73 In the lead-tin alloys, as in many other alloy systems, precipitation is accompanied by recrystallization.
1844Fownes Chem. 199 The common..experiment of the *lead-tree. 1864Grisebach Flora W. Indian Isl. 785 Lead-tree, Leucæna glauca.
1674Ray Collect. Words, Making Salt 142 A *Lead-walling is the Brine of twenty-four hours boiling for one house.
1876J. S. Bristowe Theory & Pract. Med. (1878) 330 The local inflammation may be allayed to some extent by the use of *lead-wash.
1875Dental Cosmos XVII. 510 Keep the gum covered with a pellet of cotton saturated with *lead-water and laudanum.
1908Chambers's Jrnl. Jan. 120/1 What is called ‘*lead wool’, consisting of pure lead cut into fine strips by machinery. 1930Engineering 10 Oct. 451/1 The end bracket structure on the ends of each tube formed the lateral forms for the joint concrete. The actual face joint was made with lead wool caulked.
1641in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 95 *Leadworke in y⊇ East Range. 1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 638 Lead-work is used in inferior offices. 1859Gwilt Encycl. Archit. (ed. 4) 586 Glazing..may be classed under the heads of sashwork, leadwork, and fretwork.
a1728Woodward Nat. Hist. Foss. i. (1729) I. 7 The Lord Derwentwater's *Lead-Works near Haden-Bridge in Northumberland. 1897Daily News 25 Dec. 5/7 A lad employed at a leadworks.
1727Bailey vol. II, *Lead-wort, a kind of herb. 1845Lindley Sch. Bot. (ed. 14) 104 c, Plumbaginaceæ—Leadworts. 1852C. Morfit Tanning & Currying (1853) 82 The dentellaria, or leadwort.
b. In names of chemical compounds, as lead carbonate, lead chloride, lead iodide, lead salts, etc.; lead tetraethyl = tetraethyl lead.
1873Fownes' Chem. (ed. 11) 450 Lead Chloride..separates as a heavy white crystalline precipitate. Ibid., Lead Iodide..dissolves in boiling water. Ibid. 451 Lead Carbonate..is sometimes found..crystallised in long white needles, accompanying other metallic ores. Ibid., Lead Nitrate. 1887Jrnl. Chem. Soc. LII. i. 572 Lead tetraethyl, Pb Ph4. 1926Encycl. Brit. II. 127/2 The tendency to knocking is suppressed by adding to the motor spirit substances such as lead tetra-ethyl which, it is assumed, act by being adsorbed by the ferriferous carbon in the cylinder. 1971Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 28 May 16/2 The amounts of lead in the environment have increased dramatically since the introduction of lead tetraethyl as a petrol additive in the Twenties... By controlling the rate at which fuel burns, lead tetraethyl promotes smoother ignition.
c. In the names of diseases caused by the presence of lead in the system, as lead-colic, lead-distemper, lead-encephalopathy, lead-palsy, lead-paralysis, for which see also the second member in each.
1774Pennant Tour Scotl. in 1772, 114 The miners and smelters are subject here..to the lead distemper which brings on palsies. 1866W. H. O. Sankey Lect. Ment. Dis. viii. 162 Lead palsy..is accompanied with obstinate constipation or lead colic, and the gums are marked with a peculiar blue line. 1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 967 Many of the miners..have died from lead encephalopathy.
Add:[II.] [12.] [b.] lead chromate.
1866H. E. Roscoe Lessons Elem. Chem. xxiv. 214 Lead chromate is a yellow insoluble salt. 1962J. R. Partington Hist. Chem. III. iii. 105 Collet-Descotils examined a lead ore..in which del Río claimed to have discovered a new metal..which was really vanadium.., but Collet-Descotils reported that it was only basic lead chromate.
▪ II. lead, n.2|liːd|
Forms: 4–6 lede, (4 ledde), 5–6 Sc. leid, 6 leade, 7– lead.
[f. lead v.1; cf. OHG. leitî (MHG., mod.G. leite).
By Johnson, who gives one example from Herring (quot. 1745 in sense 2), it is stigmatized as ‘a low, despicable word’; Todd quotes an instance of it from Burke, and says it is used somewhere by Bolingbroke.]
†1.
a. The action of the vb. lead1; leading, direction, guidance. to take to lead: to take under one's direction or guidance. Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 1570 Þai left þe lede of þar lau. Ibid. 12029 Þan tok ioseph iesus to ledde. c1400Destr. Troy 10653 Hom lacked the lede of þe lorde Ector. c1470Henry Wallace ix. 1532 Decest scho was, God tuk hir spreit to leid. c1510Gest Robyn Hode vii. 368 in Child Ballads (1888) III. 74/1 Take fyue of the best knyghtes That be in your lede.
†b. gentleman, man of lead: one who has a recognized leading position. Obs.
1793Ld. Westmorland in Lecky Eng. in 18th C. (1887) VI. 558 The men of talent and lead in his Majesty's service. 1842Webster Wks. (1877) II. 130 More than thirty Whigs, many of them gentlemen of lead and influence.
c. Direction given by going in front; example, precedent; esp. in phr. to follow the lead of.
1863Bright Sp. Amer. 30 June, To accept the lead of the Emperor of the French on..one of the greatest questions. 1868J. H. Blunt Ref. Ch. Eng. I. 405 The king had set an example..and the subject was only too ready to follow the royal lead. 1875T. W. Higginson Hist. U.S. xxiv. 240 Under the lead of Josiah Quincy..a law was passed forbidding the importation of slaves. 1884Lady Verney in Contemp. Rev. Oct. 546 Is the American model a success—a lead which it is desirable to follow out? 1899Cheyne Chr. Use Ps. iii. 56 The early Christians, in interpreting the Old Testament, followed the lead of the Jews.
d. spec. in Hunting, etc., chiefly in phr. to give a lead, i.e., to go first in leaping a fence or the like, so as to encourage the rest; in quots. transf.
1859G. A. Lawrence Sword & Gown v. 52 Two Sundays ago..a Mr. Rolleston..volunteered to give us a lead... He went off at score, and made the pace so strong, that he cut them all down in the first two verses. 1862A. Trollope Orley F. I. xxxviii. 296, I lost the run, and had to see Harriet Tristram go away with the best lead any one has had to a fast thing this year. 1897M. Kingsley W. Africa 535 ‘What thing?’ said I, not wishing to give him the lead.
e. A guiding indication; a clue (to the solution of something).
1851Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XII. i. 141 As I have a small brook passing through the farm..these carriages take their lead from the stream in due succession. 1855Bain Senses & Int. ii. ii. §13 (1864) 202 For the up and down direction we have a very impressive lead; this being the direction of gravity. 1910J. London Let. 19 Nov. (1966) 323 Again and again I have opened up leads of true life and found that it was wholly misunderstood by my reading public. 1959Times 18 Feb. 8/3 The enquiry arose from a complaint..that he had been given ‘definite leads’ to the questions in advance. 1971Daily Tel. 17 Dec. 1/5 Three leads are being followed by detectives investigating the attempted assassination of the Jordanian Ambassador. They are a sub machine-gun.., an hotel bill..and fingerprints. 1973Times 5 May 1/2 The French police have decided to shift their inquiry into the axe murder of Mr John Cartland, a Brighton schoolmaster, to Britain next week in search of new leads.
f. Journalism. A summary or outline of a newspaper story; a guide to a story that needs further development or exploration; the first (often the most important) item in an issue, bulletin, etc. Cf. lead story, etc., under sense 11 b below.
Quot. 1947 refers to a radio news broadcast.
1927Amer. Speech II. 241 ‘Lead’..is used as a noun to refer to the initial summary of the story, or as a verb to instruct the printer what to put first. 1947Hansard, Commons 19 Dec. 2113 There is what one calls the ‘lead’, which is..the first item. 1950D. Hyde I Believed xvi. 189, I had several hundred accredited Worker Correspondents sending in regular reports and receiving regular ‘leads’ and directives from me. 1952Manch. Guardian Weekly 20 Mar. 3 This discovery destroyed many a newsman's first confident ‘lead’. 1961‘B. Wells’ Day Earth caught Fire viii. 119 Stenning's brought in a lead to something that could be big. 1973A. Broinowski Take one Ambassador ix. 128 He's onto some lead about a mob of fanatical rat⁓bags.
2. a. The front or leading place; the place in front of (something); freq. in phr. to take the (or a) lead. Also, the position or function of leading (e.g., a party, a deliberative body), leadership.
1570Satir. Poems Reform. xii. 40 His Grandschir slane at Lythquo gif I leid. 1745Abp. Herring Sp. at York 24 Sept. 6 This County..takes the Lead of the inferior Ones. 1761Hume Hist. Eng. II. xxvii. 127 He took the lead in every jovial conversation. 1768Sterne Sent. Journ. (1775) 72 (Rose) They take the lead, and lose it..by turns. 1796Burke Regic. Peace iii. Wks. VIII. 137 To prevent those who compose it from having the open and avowed lead in that house. 1817Cobbett Taking Leave 13 Unless they [the country gentlemen] shall cordially take the lead amongst those working classes. 1840Hood Up Rhine 5 For a mile or more the doctor took the lead and kept it. 1840Alison Hist. Europe VIII. xlix. §18. 20 Boldly assuming the lead in diplomacy. a1859Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxiv. (1861) V. 169 The lead of the House of Commons had, however, entirely passed away from Montague. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xxv. 187 Each of our porters took the lead in turn. 1879M. Arnold Equality Mixed Ess. 66 On certain lines, certain nations find their strength and take a lead. 1884Times (weekly ed.) 26 Sept. 4/1 Germany has..taken the lead of other nations [in the preparation of colours from coal tar].
b. The body moving in front; the van. U.S.
1880Tourgee Fool's Err. xxxiii. 217 The lawyers were of course in the lead. Ibid. xxxviii. 281 Then we started on. I rode beside Mr. Watson in the lead.
c. Austral. and N.Z. (See quot. 19331.)
1933L. G. D. Acland in Press (Christchurch, N.Z.) 4 Nov. 15/7 Lead, the front part of a mob of sheep. Ibid. 2 Dec. 15/7 An injudicious turn with a dog in an abrupt gully may stop the lead and cause some sheep to be knocked over. 1946F. D. Davison Dusty ix. 90 Tom..sent [the sheepdog] Sapper to the flank [of the mob] and to turn the lead.
d. Finance. leads and lags (also attrib. phr. lead-and-lag): see quot. 19651. Also transf.
1958Spectator 31 Jan. 129/1 The ‘leads and lags’ are being replaced by a more natural pattern of commercial payments. 1959Economist 14 Feb. 619/2 The customary ‘leads and lags’ are at work, postponing commercial demands for sterling and accelerating sales of sterling. 1962S. E. Finer Man on Horseback xii. 220 Sometimes the demand for popular sovereignty has preceded nationalism, sometimes it has been the other way about; but the leads and lags were never very lengthy. 1964A. Battersby Network Analysis iii. 37 The lead-and-lag (or ladder) system has the merit of simplicity, and it draws attention to the importance of planning the sequence of individual jobs within a departmental activity. 1965J. L. Hanson Dict. Econ. 253/2 Leads and Lags, with reference to international payments and their effect on the balance of payments this term is used on the hastening or delaying of payment, the former by residents and the latter to residents in order to take advantage of expectations of changes in the rate of exchange. 1965Listener 13 May 692/2 Some foreigners, in the habit of acquiring sterling in advance of their commitments, refrained from doing so; that would be a mug's game, they thought, when sterling might be devalued before they had to pay. These are known as the ‘leads and lags’ in trade payments.
3. concr. Something that leads.
a. An artificial watercourse, esp. one leading to a mill. Also mill-leat. Cf. leat.
1541Ludlow Churchw. Acc. (Camden) 9 Item, to Roger Meysy for cuttynge downe of ellorns in the ledes..ijd. 1870Chambers Pop. Rhymes 17 They took..a loup in the lead and a dip in the dam.
b. A channel in an ice-field. Cf. lane n. 2.
1835Sir J. Ross Narr. 2nd Voy. Explan. Terms 15 A lead, a channel in a direct line through the sea. 1853Kane Grinnell Exp. xi. (1856) 78 Something like ‘a lead’ a little to leeward. 1881A. Leslie Nordenskiöld's Voy. Vega I. x. 519 Johnsen supposed that in a couple of hours the whole lead would be completely closed.
c. A path; a garden path; an alley. blind lead = blind alley (see blind a. 11).
1590Acts Privy Council (1899) XIX. 409 Permytt them to enjoye the libertie of the gardens and the orchards and the leades to walke in. 1885C. F. Holder Marvels Anim. Life 51 Innumerable avenues and blind leads are built to mislead the various carnivorous beetles.
d. A leash or string for leading a dog.
1893Daily News 18 July 6/3 Daykin had with him a dog, which he held by a lead. 1898Westm. Gaz. 2 Sept. 5/3 Seeing defendant with a muzzle in her hand and an unmuzzled toy terrier on a lead in Holborn.
e. N.Z. (See quot.)
1878E. S. Elwell Boy Colonists 214 They made a ‘lead’ in the stockyard for branding the cattle. This was something like a ‘race’ for drafting sheep, with a swing gate... It had a wide entrance gradually getting narrower till it became a lane only just wide enough for one beast at a time to squeeze through.
4. Card-playing. The action or privilege of playing the first card in a round or trick. Also, the card so played, or proper to be played, or the suit to which it belongs. to return one's partner's lead: to play from the same suit on getting the lead.
1742Hoyle Whist 11 If you have a Sequence of King, Queen, and Knave, or Queen, Knave, and Ten, they are sure Leads. Ibid. 12 You need seldom return your Partner's Lead, if [etc.]. 1862‘Cavendish’ Whist (1879) 57 If all your suits are weak, the lead is very disadvantageous. 1885Proctor Whist i. 21 A forced lead from Queen and one other. 1896Daily News 28 Jan. 6/4 The system of American leads—leads more frequently mentioned than adopted in England.
5. a. Curling. The first player, or the stone first played. Also, the course along which the stones are driven (Jamieson, 1825–80).
1685Lintoun Green (1817) 38 Convened for a bonspeel, He..their lead, or driver leal. 1812Sporting Mag. XL. 52 Whoever is last in order..is called the driver and the first the lead. 1820Blackw. Mag. VI. 572 The lead, or first stone, is always, except on very drug ice, expected to lie short.
b. Bowls. (See quot.)
1753Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Bowling, Lead, the advantage of throwing the block and bowling first.
c. Boxing. The first punch thrown (of two or more) (see also quot. 1954).
1906[see cross n. 22 d]. 1950J. Dempsey Championship Fighting x. 50 The first punch thrown (by either) is a lead. 1954F. C. Avis Boxing Reference Dict., Lead, a forward blow made at a fair distance from the opponent. 1970Times 28 Sept. 13/5 Those sneak right leads I hit him with helped as well. 1971Black Scholar Jan. 43/2 Man, this would make these fighters so mad they would forget about boxing and come out swinging wild. And that was all old Jack wanted. He'd step inside their leads and counter punch them to death!
6. Mining.
a. = lode. Also fig.
b. Gold-mining. An alluvial deposit of gold along the bed of an ancient river. Also deep-lead, great-blue-lead (see quots.).
a.1812Brackenridge Views of Louisiana (1814) 148 Leads (or loads), are the smaller fissures that connect with the larger, which are called by the miners, caves. 1869S. Bowles Our New West vii. 136 A quaint old miner of the valley, who, ‘prospecting’ for society that day, had struck a ‘lead’ in us. 1872‘Mark Twain’ Roughing it xl. (1882) 218 A ‘blind lead’ is a lead or ledge that does not ‘crop out’ above the surface. 1881Raymond Mining Gloss., Lead..See Lode. 1893Gunter Miss Dividends 104 Capital..invested in the silver leads of the great mountains.
b.1855Argus (Melbourne) 19 Jan. 6/1 A great curiosity was discovered in a hole on this lead—a tree. 1874Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 16 The term ‘great blue-lead’ is employed by the miners to distinguish those portions of the alluvium which are found to rest in a well-defined channel. 1880Fison & Howitt Kamilaroi 272 note, The expression ‘deep lead’ refers to those ancient river-courses which are now only disclosed by deep-mining operations. 1888F. Hume Mad. Midas i. i, Who knew..where the richest leads had been in the old days.
7. Theatr.
a. The leading or principal part in a play.
b. One who plays such a part.
1831J. Boaden Life Mrs. Jordan I. xi. 264 It gave him the lead in a successful play. 1865Punch 7 Jan. 5/1 As a general rule an actor who plays the ‘lead’ ought to aim at becoming a general manager. 1874F. C. Burnand My time xxv. 229 She was a girl and playing the lead in the Northern Circuit. 1884G. Moore Mummer's Wife (1887) 126 He had been playing heavy leads in Shakesperian revivals. 1885J. K. Jerome On the Stage 63 Grey-headed stars, and respectable married leads. 1937Daily Tel. 14 Aug. 9/1 Many leading men and women (and some who are merely minor leads). 1939[see character part]. 1953[see big stuff (big a. B. 2)]. 1973Listener 21 June 844/2 The lead, Martin Thurley, must surely have studied the slovenly dialect of the area.
8. a. Change-ringing. (See quot. 1874.) b. Mus. The giving out of a phrase or passage by one of the parts in a concerted piece, to be followed in harmony by the other parts.
1671Stedman Tintinnalogia 55 In Ringing Half-pulls, some Peals do cut Compass, that is—the whole hunt comes to lead at the back stroke. 1834Southey Doctor I. 304 A lead single was made in the middle of the peal. 1872Punch 27 Apr. 170/1 You always take up that ‘lead’ in the anthem so dreadfully ‘flat’. 1874Stainer & Barrett Dict. Mus. Terms s.v. Bells, A bell is said to be ‘behind’ when she is the last of the changing bells, and at ‘lead’ when she is the first. Thus the progress from ‘lead’ to behind is said to be ‘going up’, and from behind to lead is called ‘going down’.
c. Mus. The most prominent part in a piece played by an orchestra, esp. a jazz band; the player or instrument that plays this; the leader of a section of an orchestra; also, the start of a passage played by a particular instrument. Freq. attrib. orig. U.S.
Further attrib. examples are given under sense 11 b below.
1934S. R. Nelson All about Jazz v. 99 He evolved what he called a ‘harmony chorus’, the instruments all playing harmony, with a solo lead. 1937Amer. Speech XII. 47 The lead melody is carried lower than the clarinet. 1952B. Ulanov Hist. Jazz in Amer. (1958) xvii. 203 Hymie Schertzer's rich lead alto sounds. 1967[see attack v. 7]. 1968Blues Unlimited Sept. 8 They played mostly Italian music and polkas, with Charlie McCoy on lead mandolin.
9. friendly lead (see friendly a. 2 b). Also simply lead.
1851–61Mayhew Lond. Labour III. 154 We went to a public-house where they were having ‘a lead’, that is a collection for a friend who is ill, and the company throw down what they can for a subscription, and they have in a fiddle and make it social.
10. In various technical uses.
a. Electricity. (a) The angle between the plane through the lines of contact of the brushes or collectors of a dynamo or electric motor with the commutator and the transverse plane bisecting the magnetic field. (b) A conductor conveying electricity from the source to the place where it is used.
1881Design & Work 24 Dec. 455/2 Had properly insulated and erected ‘leads’..been employed, no serious result would have followed personal contact. 1893Sloane Electr. Dict., Lead of Brushes in a dynamo electric generator, the lead or displacement in advance of or beyond the position at right angles to the line connecting the poles of the field magnet, which is given the brushes. In a motor the brushes are set back of the right angle position, or are given a negative lead. 1898Westm. Gaz. 11 Nov. 9/1 The use of candles could be dispensed with by the use of a wandering lead with a hand electric light.
b. Engineering, etc. The distance to which ballast, coal, soil, etc. has to be carted or otherwise conveyed (see lead v.1 1 b) to its destination.
1852J. Wiggins Embanking 113 The cost of earth-work depends on the nature of the soil, and the distance it has to be conveyed, which is called ‘the lead’. 1894Westm. Gaz. 10 Feb. 6/1 Instead of sending the coal east and west with short ‘leads’, the company had to send it north and south with very long ‘leads’.
c. Horology. The action of a tooth, as a tooth of a wheel, in impelling another tooth or pallet.
1880Tripplin & Rigg Saunier's Mod. Horology 40.
d. Naut. The direction in which running ropes lead fair, and come down to the deck (Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 1867). Cf. fair-lead.
c1860H. Stuart Seamen's Catech. 37 Ropes that want a lead can have one..by using a snatch block. 1865Pall Mall G. 30 Oct. 4 He knows..the lead of the ropes, the use of a boat, and a score of other things. 1897R. Kipling Capt. Cour. 73 The lead of each rope was fixed in Harvey's mind by the end of the rope itself.
e. Sawing. ‘The overhang of a saw, to extend the cut throughout the length of the saw and to carry the saw back in the kerf during the return stroke’ (Knight Dict. Mech. 1875).
f. Steam-engine. (See quots.)
1875Knight Dict. Mech., Lead of the crank, the setting of the crank of one engine a little in advance of the right angle to the other; namely at 100° or 110° in place of 90°. This assists in rendering the motion of the piston more uniform, by moderating its velocity at the end of the stroke. 1881Metal World No. 18. 274 The steam-port is open a very small amount when the crank is in this condition [on the dead centre], the amount that the steam-port is then open being termed the lead of the valve. 1895Mod. Steam Engine 39 This amount of opening before the piston commences its stroke is called the lead of the slide.
11. attrib. and Comb.: lead-bars Coaching, the bars to which the traces of the leaders are attached; lead-horse, a horse that is guided by a lead (see 3 d); lead-mule (cf. lead-horse); lead-net = leader1 15 b; lead-reins Coaching, the leaders' reins; lead-rope, a rope used as a lead for a horse or ox; also fig.; lead-screw, ‘the main screw of a lathe, which gives the feed motion to the slide-rest’ (Webster 1864); lead sheet U.S. slang (see quot. 1942); also transf., an overcoat; lead-time orig. U.S., the time taken to produce some manufactured article (see also quot. 1968); also transf.
1840Congress. Globe 5 Mar. App. 227/2 The horse broke loose from the coach, taking with him a part of what are now called ‘*Lead bars’. 1890‘Rolf Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 188 Both check-reins were carried away and the lead bars broken.
1828J. M. Spearman Brit. Gunner (ed. 2) 256 Total weight carried by the *lead horse.
1877Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 345 Give me the *lead-mule, and the rest of us will go on to camp.
1910Chambers's Jrnl. Mar. 192/2 The *lead-net is about fifteen hundred feet long. The salmon strike this.
1896Outing (U.S.) XXX. 111/1 The buckles on these *lead-reins should hang even over the leader's quarters... You have now both lead-reins in your left hand.
1846R. B. Sage Scenes Rocky Mts. iii. 24 Holding in one hand the *lead-rope of his horse. 1901Kipling Kim vii. 169 ‘We be all on one lead-rope, then,’ said Kim at last, ‘the Colonel, Mahbub Ali, and I.’ 1958L. van der Post Lost World of Kalahari i. 15 Lifting the lead rope from the horns of the two guide-oxen.
1942Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §578/9 *Lead sheet, a sheet of music containing the melodic line and lyric only. 1945L. Shelly Jive Talk Dict. 28/2 Lead sheet, an overcoat. 1961R. Russell Sound iii. 38 You never got around to writing out a lead sheet!
1945Birmingham (Alabama) News 19 May 8/1 The ‘*lead-time’ normally required to bring out new models. 1957Manch. Guardian 4 May, The problem is..difficult, on account of the complex character of the equipment in question and the long lead-time involved. 1964A. Battersby Network Analysis iii. 36 The chain-dotted arrows..represent lead times when they connect start events. 1968J. F. Magee Industr. Logistics i. 19 ‘Lead time’ is the response time lag of the system, the time that must be allowed at a stock point to replenish stock, including the time needed to process records, transmit information, and process and ship material. 1971Inside Kenya Today Mar. 28/1 Because of the lead-time in switching the emphasis in the secondary schools, the University is under pressure to increase its Arts intake very rapidly. 1973Nature 28 Sept. 179/1 The long lead time required for such a rendezvous or flyby mission makes it impossible to achieve a fruitful interception with Kohoutek.
b. Used in the sense of ‘leading’.
1846R. B. Sage Scenes Rocky Mts. xxxiii. 289 Bidding them adieu, with my lead pack-animal returned to the mountains. 1857in Ann. Wyoming (1939) XI. 83 The carriage sustained no injury, but one of our lead Mules became detached from the wagon. 1869Overland Monthly III. 127 With the Texan driver all oxen are ‘steers’, and he has his ‘wheel-steers’, his ‘swing-steers’, and his ‘lead-steers’. 1888Kipling Barrack-Room Ballads (1892) 117 Then the lead-cart stuck, though the coolies slaved, and the cartmen flogged. 1890Ibid. 18 The rattle an' stamp o' the lead-mules. 1910W. M. Raine Bucky O'Connor 189 It was as the man in charge circled round to head the lead cows in that a faint voice carried to him. 1929Randolph Enterprise (Elkins, W. Virginia) 28 Mar. 1/2 Dick Collette played the lead violin and Bryan Gainer, second. 1942Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §523/3 Leader, lead story, a leading news item. 1959J. Osborne World of Paul Slickey i. vi. 55 Congratulations..on today's lead story. 1962Amer. Speech XXXVII. 87 A lead article satirizing American temperance groups. 1963Mrs. L. B. Johnson White House Diary 22 Nov. (1970) 3 In the lead car were President and Mrs. Kennedy. 1967Time 25 Aug. 38 The Group Image, one of the new, first-name-only hippie groups, of which Nancy is the den mother..and Artie the lead guitar. The tribe has about 25 musicians, artists and psychedelic experts in it. 1967W. Soyinka Kongi's Harvest 3 Superintendent... Seizes the lead drummer by the wrist. 1973‘F. Clifford’ Amigo, Amigo xxi. 175 Ahead, the lead horse whinnied. 1973Listener 6 Sept. 312/3 Carl Perkins..now playing lead guitar behind Johnny Cash. 1975Guardian 7 Jan. 6/7 A mob of Hell's Angels set on members of the Troggs pop group in their dressing-room and during a fight the group's lead guitarist was stabbed five times in the back.
Senses 2 b–d in Dict. become 2 c–e. Add: [2.] b. The extent to which something or someone is leading (in a race or other contest); an advantage or ‘edge’ on or over an opponent, rival, etc.
1868H. Woodruff Trotting Horse Amer. xxiv. 207, I passed first one and then the other, and came on the home-stretch with a clear lead. 1894Outing XXIV. 36/2 The ‘Una’ turned the weather-mark with a lead of nearly half an hour. 1926Westm. Gaz. 20 July 1/4 The Whip..continues to hold a strong lead in Naps over the selections of the other racing critics. 1949‘G. Orwell’ Nineteen Eighty-Four ii. ix. 195 None of the three super-states ever gains a significant lead on the others. 1967Boston Herald 1 Apr. 17/7 Harris built up an early lead over the baffled 29-year-old veteran. 1976Ld. Home Way Wind Blows xii. 168 Today's superiority of the Warsaw Pact is in personnel roughly 3–1, and Russia's lead in numbers of tanks and aircraft is such that the allies are on the margin of safety. 1991Cycling Weekly 27 July 3/2 Yellow jersey Miguel Indurain still held the three minutes lead which he took by finishing second in last Friday's epic Pyrenean stage.
[10.] g. Railways. The distance from the tip of the blade of a set of points to the point where one rail crosses another, usu. measured along the straight track; the section of track so measured.
1871W. Donaldson Switches & Crossings v. 131 The value of the circular measure of the angle of a crossing is expressed by a fraction whose numerator is unity. The value of the denominator will be sufficiently exact if it be put equal to the nearest integer if the lead of the crossing is long, or to the nearest half integer if the lead is short. 1890W. H. Cole Notes on Permanent-Way Material iii. 69 Some platelayers have an idea that they can make a crossing easier by lengthening the lead. 1908W. G. Raymond Elem. Railroad Engin. II. vii. 82 The distance from head-block to the point of frog, measured by some makers along the straight rail and by others along the curved rail, is called the lead. Probably, technically, the distance along the curved rail is the lead, and the distance along the straight rail would better be known as the frog distance. 1920Perrott & Badger Pract. Railway Surveying xii. 212 The length of a ‘lead’ is usually understood to be the length from the toe of the points to the splice of the V-crossing. 1953W. W. Hay Railroad Engin. I. xxvii. 438 Turnouts are designed on the basis of the frog angle (or number), the length of point, and the degree of turnout curve. These, in turn, give rise to an overall dimension, the lead. 1971D. H. Coombs Brit. Railway Track (ed. 4) iii. 132 Switches and common crossings may be combined to give turnouts of varying leads and radii. With the introduction of curved switches, the range of available leads is much increased.
h. Mech. The axial distance travelled by a screw thread in one revolution. Cf. pitch n.2 25 b.
1905J. Horner Engineers' Turning xiv. 266 A problem which arises more frequently now than formerly is that of cutting threads of steep pitch, or lead, for multiple-threaded worms. 1913E. Pull Screw Cutting for Engineers i. 4 Lead is a term generally used when referring to multiple threads, and is the distance a nut would travel in one revolution, or the distance between the centre of one thread and the centre of the same thread allowing for one complete turn. 1936Colvin & Stanley Turning & Boring Pract. v. 55 A double thread has a lead twice the pitch, a triple screw three times, and so on. 1967J. H. Potter Handbk. Engin. Sci. II. xiii. 1043 For a multiple-threaded screw, the lead is l = np, where n is the number of threads [and p = pitch]. 1991What's New in Design Sept. 50/1 SX screws are available in lead precision classes G5, G6, G7 and G9 and with leads of 5, 10 or 20 to give ten diameter/lead combinations.
▪ III. lead, v.1|liːd|
Forms: 1 lǽdan, 2–4 laden, 3 læden, læiden, 2–5 leden, leaden, (3 leoden, Orm. ledenn), 3–5 ledde, 4–6 led(e, 4, 7 leede, 4–7 (chiefly Sc.) leide, leyde, 6–7 leade; 6– lead. pres. ind. (contracted forms): 2nd sing. 1 lǽtst, 3 last; 3rd sing. 1 lǽt, 3 lat, 3–4 let, 4 leth. pa. tense 1 lǽdde, 2 leaded, 2–6 ledd(e, 3 lædde, 3–4 leede, (3 leadde, leddede), 4–6 ladde, 4–8 lad, 5–6 ledd, (5 leded, Sc. laid), 4– led. pa. pple. 1 lǽded, lǽd, 3–6 ledde, 4–5 ladd(e, lede, 4–7 lad(e, 7 lead(e, 4– led. Also 3–5 with prefix i-, y-.
[A Com. Teut. wk. vb. (wanting in Goth.): OE. lǽdan = OFris. lêda, OS. lêdjan (MDu. leden, leiden, Du. leiden), OHG. (MHG., G.) leiten, ON. leiða (Sw. leda, Da. lede):—OTeut. *laiđjan, f. *laiđâ road, journey (see load, lode ns.), related to OE. líðan, ON. líða to go, travel.
The word has always served as the usual rendering of L. ducere, and this has in some degree influenced the development of meaning.]
I. To conduct.
1. trans. To cause to go along with oneself.
†a. To bring or take (a person or animal) to a place. Also with away, down, etc. Obs. (Phrases like to lead captive are now understood in sense 2.)
c825Vesp. Psalter lxvii[i]. 19 Astiᵹende in heanisse ᵹehefte lædde heftned. c1000ælfric Gen. vi. 19 Of eallum nytenum..tweᵹen ᵹemacan þu lætst in to þam arce mid þe. Ibid. xlii. 20 Læde eowerne ᵹingstan broðor to me. a1175Cott. Hom. 221 God ȝeledde to him niatenu..and adam ham alle namen ȝesceop. c1205Lay. 26797 [He] ladde uorð Petreiun læð þeh hit weore him. c1250Gen. & Ex. 858 Wifwes, and childre..He ledden a-wei wið herte prud. Ibid. 2193 He dede hem binden and leden dun, And speren faste in his prisun. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 8803 Oþer kniȝtes þer were inome,..& ilad in to engelond. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xi. (Symon & Judas) 408 Þe forsad byschapis of þat stede al hale þe puple with þam lede. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 97 Þat þe kyng schulde be lad awey prisoner in to Babilon. c1400Mandeville (1839) x. 113 The Jews ladden him upon an highe Roche. c1460Towneley Myst. xiv. 70 Boldly thou thaym bynde, And with the leyde. 1530Palsgr. 604/2 Shall I leade him away with me? 1533Gau Richt Vay 70 God sal leid thaime vp to the heuine with hime quhilk ar deid in christ. 1579Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 168 Ieremy before the people were led awaye, apointeth their exile to continue three score and ten years. 1704Hearne Duct. Hist. (1714) I. 395 The Pannonians..he successfully subdued, leading away the younger sort into other countries.
quasi-passive in gerund.a1533Ld. Berners Huon cxliv. 539 The other prysoners, whom we see yonder ledyng to the dethe warde. 1757E. Griffith Lett. Henry & Francis (1767) II. 87 Suppose a criminal leading forth to execution.
b. To carry or convey, usually in a cart or other vehicle. Now only north. dial.: To cart (coal, corn, stones, turf, etc.). to lead in (grain): to house.
c900tr. Bæda's Hist. i. i. (1890) 30 Of Breotone nædran on scipum lædde wæron. Ibid. iii. v. [vii.] 168 Hædde biscop heht his lichoman..lædan to Wintaceastre. c1205Lay. 3548 To læden þis garisume to leuene mine fadere. a1225Leg. Kath. 2251 We, aȝeines þin heast, þæt licome awei ledden. a1300Cursor M. 5129 Siluer and gold þai wit þam ledd. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. iv. 130 Lawe schal ben a laborer and leden [1377 lede] a-feld dounge. 1375Barbour Bruce x. 195 Vith this Bunnok spokin had thai To leid thair hay. c1386Chaucer Monk's T. 158 The vessel of the temple he with hym ladde. c1400Mandeville (1839) xxiii. 248 Thei leiden hire Houses with hem upon chariottes. c1420Liber Cocorum (1862) 33 Whenne thou hast covered hit [venison] so, Lede hit home. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 5300 Þare armour hame þai led. c1450Bk. Curtasye 813 in Babees Bk., Þe vssher ledes þat on hed ryȝt. c1470Henry Wallace ix. 1610 A drawcht off wod to leid. c1475Rauf Coilȝear 597 Leidand Coillis he ȝeid To Paris the way. 1528Test. Ebor. (Surtees) V. 260 To Smythson, for ledinge corne at Acclame, vjs. viijd. 1530Palsgr. 604/2 He was ledde thorowe the towne upon a hardell and so to the galowes. 1594Acc. Bk. W. Wray in Antiquary XXXII. 55 For leding ij lodes of haye, xijd. 1601Shakes. All's Well iv. iii. 298 Faith, sir, ha's led the drumme before the English Tragedians. 1603Owen Pembrokeshire (1891) 93 And being thus dried throwlie they [turfs] are led home and layed then vp. 1683Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 341 For two load of lime and leading it, 5s. 1721Ramsay Elegy Patie Birnie v, Tho' peats and turfs and a's to lead. 1799J. Robertson Agric. Perth 195 In no case to reap when they ought to be leading in (housing) their grain. 1839Stonehouse Axholme 43 One shilling a load is the price generally paid for leading a cart-load of warp. 1841Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. II. ii. 191 He undertakes to convey (or lead, as the term is) all the materials for a new building. 1887Hall Caine Deemster xvi. 800 Dan was sent for the pair of oxen to where they were leading manure. 1891Atkinson Moorland Par. 64 The people of the farm in question..had been leading, that is, carting hay in a ‘catchy’ time.
†c. Of a natural agent, e.g. the wind: To carry. Obs.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2023 He ariuede at souþ hamptone as þe wind hom adde ylad. a1300Cursor M. 1805 Þe wind him ledd a-pon þe flodd. 1633Bp. Hall Hard Texts 607 Causing the Clouds to lead in store of rain.
d. To bring forward, adduce (testimony); to bring (an action). Now only in Sc. Law.
a1300Cursor M. 16278 Quat mister es o wijtnessing again him for to lede? c1450Holland Howlat 224 The crovss Capone..Was officiale but less that the law leidis. 1503Extracts Aberd. Reg. (1844) I. 430 The richtis, ressonis and allegacionis of batht the said parties,..led, herde, sene and understandin. 1564Warrant in D. H. Fleming Mary Q. of Scots (1897) 494 Forsamekill as thair wes ane proces of forfaltoure led aganis Mathew sumtyme Erle Leuenax [etc.]. 1737Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. 379 A process leading agst. my guiltiness. 1831Sir W. Hamilton Discuss. (1852) 228 No evidence has yet been led to show. 1884Ld. Watson in Law Rep. 9 App. Cases 253 In the Court below, the parties were allowed and led proof of their respective averments. 1887Scotsman 19 Mar., Proof was led to-day in this action of separation and aliment.
2. a. To accompany and show the way to; to conduct, guide, esp. to direct or guide by going on in advance; to cause to follow in one's path. Often with advs., astray, away, forth, in, on, out, up, etc.
In early examples app. merely a contextual use of sense 1.
a900Martyrol. 26 in O.E. Texts 178 Mine englas ðec lædað in ða hiofonlican Hierusalem. 971Blickl. Hom. 27 He hine lædde upon swiþe hea dune. c1175Lamb. Hom. 119 Monie þewas..ledað to deþe on ende þa þe heom duseliche folȝiað. c1200Ormin 14468 Caym ledde himm [Abæl] ut uppo þe feld. c1205Lay. 1098 Brutus nom Ignogen & into scipe lædde. c1250Gen. & Ex. 3607 Go, led ðis folc. a1300Cursor M. 24620 Vnto þe tun þan i me ledd. c1350Will. Palerne 2618 Þe werwolf hem ladde ouer mures & muntaynes. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxxv. (Thadee) 47 Þane till a chawmir scho hym lede mare priue. 1382Wyclif Ps. lxxvii[i]. 14 He ladde hem thennes in the cloude of the day. c1475Rauf Coilȝear 263 To ane preuie Chalmer beliue thay him led. 1509Hawes Past. Pleas. xxxviii. (Percy Soc.) 196 The gentle porteres..on my way then me lede. 1570Satir. Poems Reform. xvi. 51 Bot he will leid him in the myre Thocht he hecht to defend him. 1603Shakes. Meas. for M. iii. ii. 47 How now, noble Pompey! What, at the wheels of Cæsar? Art thou led in triumph? 1667Milton P.L. xii. 309 Therefore shall not Moses..his people into Canaan lead. 1711Addison Spect. No. 321 ⁋9 Satan is afterwards led away to Gabriel. 1742Young Nt. Th. i. 45–7 O lead my Mind..Lead it thro' various Scenes of Life. 1847H. Rogers Ess. (1860) III. 402 The criminal must be led back by the same road by which he has been led astray. 1879C. M. Yonge Cameos Ser. iv. xiii. 144 He was led into the chamber of presence.
b. Of motives, conditions, circumstances: To guide, direct to a place.
a1300Cursor M. 20386 Sais me quat has you hider ledde. 1821Clare Vill. Minstr. II. 44 It was a happy hour That led me up to Barnack hill. 1861Temple Bar I. 467 Chance led him to Basil. 1892Eng. Illustr. Mag. IX. 867 Instinct early led him into the political arena.
c. Of a clue, light, sound, etc.: To serve (a person) as an indication of the way; to mark the course for. Also absol. to lead in (Naut.): to mark the course for entering port.
1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 222 By the tinkling Sound of Timbrels led, The King of Heav'n in Cretan Caves they fed. 1824Campbell Theodric 185 Led by that clue, he left not England's shore Till he had known her. 1833J. H. Newman Hymn, Lead, Kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom, Lead Thou me on! 1860Merc. Marine Mag. VII. 316 The two latter Lights in line lead in.
d. absol., chiefly in figurative contexts.
1580Sidney Ps. i. i, He blessed is who..[never] loosely treads The straying steps as wicked councel leads. 1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iii. i. 99 We charge you..To go with vs vnto the Officers. King. In Gods name lead. 1602― Oth. i. i. 311 Pray you lead on. c1614Sir W. Mure Dido & æneas i. 89 Quhair ever thou dost leid We follow the. 1624Quarles Job xvi. 30 My lips shall tread That ground..as Truth shall leade. 1836I. Williams in Lyra Apost. (1849) 120 Into God's Word..Thou leadest on and on. 1863Cowden Clarke Shaks. Char. xvi. 390 [They] who desire to lead, must at all events make a show of following.
e. to lead the way: † (a) with personal obj., to guide, show the way to (obs.); (b) in later use (influenced by sense 13), to go in advance of others, take the lead in an expedition or course of action.
c1200Ormin 3465 Ant teȝȝre steorrne wass wiþþ hemm To ledenn hemm þe weȝȝe. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints ii. (Paulus) 203 Þe quhilkis ledand hym þe way praide hym [etc.]. 1590Marlowe Edw. II, ii. ii. (1598) D 2, Lan. Lead on the way. 1599Porter Angry Wom. Abingt. (Percy Soc.) 90 Lead thou the way, and let me hold by thee. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, v. v. 73 Lead the way, lords. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 123 The first to lead the Way, to tempt the Flood. 1709Prior Ode to Col. Villiers, And in their various Turns the Sons must tread Those gloomy Journeys, which their Sires have led. 1770Goldsm. Des. Vill. 170 He..allured to brighter worlds, and led the way. 1832H. Martineau Ireland ii. 22 Dora..led the way..in an opposite direction. 1847Marryat Childr. N. Forest vii, I can manage it, Humphrey; so lead the way. 1874Green Short Hist. ii. §6. 89 In the silent growth and elevation of the English people the boroughs led the way.
f. To aim in advance of.
1892W. W. Greener Breech-Loader 267 Theoretically it is correct to lead a quartering pigeon from five to seven feet. 1968D. Hamilton Menacers xxii. 176, I led him by roughly two feet and pressed the trigger of the Luger.
g. Coll. phr. lead me to (something previously mentioned), expressing the ability to perform or a desire to comply, or merely expressing eager assent.
1929W. E. Miller To you I tell It 107 ‘How wood you like to urn a piece of jack?’ ‘Leed me to it,’ says Figgars. ‘What's the propozishion?’ 1934D. L. Sayers Nine Tailors iv. 307 ‘Can you ride a motor-bike?’ ‘Lead me to it, guv'nor!’ 1938D. Smith Dear Octopus ii. iii. 90 Lead me to that whiskey.
h. to lead with one's chin (Boxing slang), to ‘stick one's neck out’, to leave oneself unprotected; fig., to behave or speak incautiously.
1949E. S. Gardner in Argosy Apr. 110/3 Let him lead with his chin. We'll work undercover. 1954F. C. Avis Boxing Reference Dict., Lead with chin, to have a very bad stance or guard. 1968Listener 18 Jan. 78/2, I thought it was a good idea to say that I was prejudiced to begin with, to lead with my chin. 1973A. MacVicar Painted Doll Affair i. 19 Don't go leading with your chin, Bruce.
3. Of a commander: To march at the head of and direct the movement of. Also with on. † Also to conduct (warfare) = L. ducere bellum.
a900O.E. Chron. an. 827 (Parker MS.) Se Ecgbryht lædde fierd to Dore wiþ Norþan hymbre. c1350Will Palerne 1609 Wiþ þe clennest cumpanye þat euer king ladde. 1422tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 154 Where ben tho that ladd the grete hostes? c1470Golagros & Gaw. 655 The thrid heght schir Bantellas, the batal to leid. c1470Henry Wallace vii. 1171 Hew Kertyngayme the wantguard ledis he. 1513Douglas æneis xi. iii. 28 Ne na weirfair with ȝour pepill leid I. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. vi. 332 He leids ane armie till Northumberland. 1605Shakes. Macb. v. vi. 4 You (worthy Vnkle) Shall..Leade our first Battell. 1736T. Lediard Life Marlborough II. 267 The Prince..led them on with great Gallantry. 1821R. Turner Arts & Sci. (ed. 18) 188 Many thousands of them [elephants] have at once been led to battle. 1847Marryat Childr. N. Forest iv, He longed..to lead his men on to victory.
absol.c1420Anturs of Arth. 397 (Douce MS.) Withe a launce one loft þat louely cone lede. 1581Savile Tacitus' Agric. (1622) 194 The army..cried to leade into Caledonia. 1623Bingham Xenophon 10 Cyrus..told them, that his purpose was to lead against the great King. 1791Cowper Iliad iv. 430 Go therefore thou, Lead on.
4. a. To go before or alongside and guide by direct or indirect contact; to conduct (a person) by holding the hand or some part of the body or clothing, (an animal) by means of a cord, halter, bridle, etc. Const. by (the hand, etc.). Also with advs. away, in, off, on, out, up and down, etc. to lead apes (in hell): see ape n. 6.
971Blickl. Hom. 71 His þeᵹnas..læddon him to þone eosol. c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. xv. 14 Se blinda ᵹyf he blindne læt hiᵹ feallað beᵹen on ænne pytt. c1175Lamb. Hom. 111 Þet mon..sarine frefrað oðer blindne let. c1320Sir Tristr. 446 Tristrem hunters seiȝe ride Les of houndes þai ledde. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxxiii. (George) 274 Ta þi belt & hyme [a dragon] lede, & about his hals knyt it sone. c1420Anturs of Arth. 447 His stede was sone stabillede, and lede to þe stalle. 1470–85Malory Arthur i. xlix, The brachet was mine that the Knight lad away. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xiii. 17 His fa sum by the oxstar leidis. Ibid. xc. 35 The ane blynde man is led forth be ane uther. 1530Palsgr. 604/2 Lede my horse, I praye you, up and downe. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. i. 4 A milke white lamb she lad. 1614Sir A. Gorges tr. Lucan's Pharsalia i. 37 Then doth he take a faire large bull..And him vnto the Altar leades. 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. xxiii, The captive soldier was led forth. 1813Sketches Charac. (ed. 2) I. 29 [She] returned, leading in a lovely little girl. 1830Tennyson Ode to Memory iii. 10 In sweet dreams..Thou leddest by the hand thine infant Hope. 1862Temple Bar IV. 252 The chestnut..was led off to the stable.
b. to lead (a bride) to the altar, lead to church († also simply: ? after L. ducere): To marry.
1530Palsgr. 604/2, I lede a bride to churche, je mayne. 1700Dryden Ovid's Metam. xii. 267 He had either led Thy Mother then; or was by Promise ty'd. 1812Landor Ct. Julian v. iii. 5 He leads her to the altar, to the throne. 1842Tennyson Ld. of Burleigh 11 He..leads her to the village altar.
c. fig. (a) In opposition to drive: To guide by persuasion as contrasted with commands or threats. (b) to lead by the nose (for the allusion cf. quot. 1604): to cause to obey submissively. Also † to lead by the sleeve.
c1425Lydg. Assemb. Gods 1680 How false idolatry ledeth hem by the sleue. 1583Golding Calvin on Deut. cxxi. 745 Men..suffer themselues to bee led by the noses like brute beasts. 1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xxiv. (Arb.) 299 Princes may be lead but not driuen. 1604Shakes. Oth. i. iii. 407 The Moore..will as tenderly be lead by th' Nose As Asses are. 1631Star Chamb. Cases (Camden) 20 You shall meete with ignorant Juryes, your duty is to open their eyes, you may not leade them by the nose. 1749Smollett Gil Blas (1797) III. 77 They [the great] have favourite domestics who lead them by the nose. 1856Kingsley Plays & Purit. 211 A mob of fools and knaves, led by the nose in each generation by a few arch-fools and arch-knaves. 1862Temple Bar IV. 167 She might be led, but would not be driven.
d. intr. (quasi-pass.). To be led; to submit to being led.
1607Markham Caval. i. (1617) 75 Till hee be so tame..that he will leade vppe and downe quietlye. 1822Scott Pirate xxiv, My mester may lead, but he winna drive. 1887I. R. Lady's Ranche Life Montana 148 In the morning the pupils [colts] have learnt their lesson, and will lead anywhere.
5. To guide with reference to action or opinion; to bring by persuasion or counsel to or into a condition; to conduct by argument or representation to a conclusion; to induce to do something. Said both of persons and motives, circumstances, evidence, etc.
a1225Leg. Kath. 261 Þe feont..leadeð [men] to unbileaue. a1300Cursor M. 26696 He said þar-till his wijf him ledde. c1330Spec. Gy Warw. 62 Þe world þurw his foule gile Haþ me lad to longe while. c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 445 Herby bene man lad in to fendus temptacioun. 1422tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 217 Al accordid, that kynde lad the chylde that to done. 1538Starkey England i. ii. 30 The wyl of man ever commynly folowyth that to the wych opynyon..ledyth hyt. 1586Hunsdon in Border Papers (1894) I. 367 Sondrie cawses..leades me greatlie to mistrust the Kinges good meaning towards her Majesty. a1605Montgomerie Devot. Poems iii. 26 To lyf that leddie sall the leid. 1611Bible Transl. Pref. 1 Bruit-beasts led with sensualitie. 1651Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxx. 177 They ought not to be led with admiration of the vertue [etc.]. 1711Addison Spect. No. 40 ⁋1 This Error they have been led into by a ridiculous Doctrine in modern Criticism. 1736Butler Anal. Introd., Wks. 1874 I. 9 Our whole nature leads us to ascribe all moral perfection to God. 1859Ruskin Two Paths App. i. (1891) 251 Tintoret..may lead you wrong if you don't understand him. 1861M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 41 Edward's foreign policy led him to draw closer the ties which connected our country with Germany. 1871B. Stewart Heat §239 In studying the radiation of gases we are led to some very peculiar laws. 1885Sir H. Cotton in Law Rep. 29 Ch. Div. 479 There was nothing in the prospectus to lead him to such a conclusion. 1888H. F. Lester Hartas Maturin II. vi. 122 She knew the colonel was easily led.
absol.1597Bacon Colours Gd. & Evil (Arb.) 138 Besides their power to alter the nature of the subiect in appearance, and so leade to error.
6. a. Of a way, road, etc.: To serve as a passage for, conduct (a person) to or into a place. Hence absol. or intr., to have a specified goal or direction. Cf. L. via ducit in urbem. Often in fig. contexts.
a1200Moral Ode 337 Læte we..þe wei bene þe lat þe niȝeðe del to helle of manne. c1200Ormin 12916 Forr þiss Lamb iss þatt rihhte stih Þatt ledeþþ upp till heffne. 1340Ayenb. 165 Þet is þe way þet let in-to þe helle of god. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xviii. (Egipciane) 843 Gyf he..wald kene me the gat, þat mycht me led to the flume Iordane. 1382Wyclif Matt. vii. 14 How streit is the ȝate and narewe the weye that ledith to lyf. 1509Bury Wills (Camden) 112 Y⊇ hygheway..ledyng toward Ipswych. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 14 Yet bothe entendeth to go the iourney that ledeth to the hye Jerusalem. 1603Shakes. Meas. for M. iv. i. 33 A little doore, Which from the Vineyard to the Garden leades. 1621Lady M. Wroth Urania 452 The way of necessity leading me to follow my disdainer. 1710Steele Tatler No. 194 ⁋2 There was a single Bridge that led into the Island. 1720Ozell Vertot's Rom. Rep. II. ix. 48 There were but two Ways that led equally to all the Dignities of the Republick. 1780A. Young Tour Irel. i. 288 The end of the lake at your feet is formed by the root of Mangerton, on whose side the road leads. 1791Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest ii, La Motte ascended the stairs that led to the tower. 1821Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 122 My rambles led me to a gipsy's camp. 1861Temple Bar II. 547 Broad steps lead down into a garden. 1884J. Colborne Hicks Pasha 69 Then comes the eternal arid plain leading to the barren hills. 1889Repentance Paul Wentworth I. ix. 187 Their road..led them through a little copse.
b. intr. To form a channel into, a connecting link to (something).
1833Act 3 & 4 Will. IV, c. 46 §95 One waste or foul water pipe..to communicate with any drain..leading into a common sewer. 1851Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib. 361 Motion is..communicated to the rudder by means of two connecting rods leading to the tiller.
c. intr. to lead to: to have as a result or consequence.
a1770Jortin Serm. (1771) IV. vi. 119 Pride seldom leads to truth in points of morality. 1845S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. I. 277 The general disapprobation excited by the church on such weighty points, naturally led to a discussion of its other abuses. 1861M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 43 Several seizures of English cargoes led to reprisals on our part; reprisals led to a naval war. 1875Bryce Holy Rom. Emp. iv. (ed. 5) 35 The victory of Tolbiac led to the submission of the Alemanni. 1885Manch. Exam. 8 July 5/3 Mr. Beecher's former opinion that smoking leads to drinking.
7. to lead (a person) a dance: transf. and fig., to put to the trouble of hurrying from place to place; hence, to compel to go through a course of irksome action. to lead (a person) a chase: lit. to give (a pursuer) trouble by one's speed or circuitous course; also fig. Also (by association with sense 12) to lead a person a life.
a1529,1599[see dance n. 6 b]. 1601Shakes. All's Well ii. iii. 49 Why he's able to leade her a Carranto. 1607Heywood Wom. Killed (1617) A 3, That's the dance her Husband meanes to leade her. 1711Addison Spect. No. 89 ⁋2 You know..my Passion for Mrs. Martha, and what a Dance she has led me. 1715De Foe Fam. Instruct. i. iv. (1841) 77 I'll lead her such a life she shall have little comfort of me. 1850A. Jameson Leg. Monast. Ord. (1863) 64 They led St. Guthlac such a life, that [etc.]. 1861Temple Bar IV. 53 He..often leads them a fine chace over hill and dale. 1883Fenn Middy & Ensign xvii. 107 The chaps would lead him such a life. 1892Cornh. Mag. July 15 How can the captain so forget himself as to lead them a paper chase? 1892Sunday Mag. Aug. 509/2 She had led him the life of a dog.
8. With an inanimate thing as object.
a. To conduct (water, occas. steam) through a channel or pipe. Cf. L. aquam ducere. Also with away, forth, off, out.
c1205Lay. 15952 Þis wæter wes al ilæde. 1382Wyclif Prov. v. 16 Ben lad out thi wellis withoute forth. 1842Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. III. ii. 273 Deep beds of peat, from which the water has been led off by open drains. 1865Ibid. Ser. ii. I. ii. 276 Water may be led away from a hill⁓side and form a perennial stream of the greatest value. 1892Chamb. Jrnl. 4 June 360/1 A dam and shoot were constructed..to lead the water away faster. 1893Ibid. 28 Jan. 61/1 The steam..being led by a bamboo pipe to other vessels.
b. To guide the course or direction of (something flexible); † to train (a vine), † to trace (a line, a boundary); to draw or pass (a rope, etc.) over a pulley, through a hole, etc.
c1050in Thorpe Dipl. Angl. 376 Þa ilcan þe him ær landᵹemære læddon. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. clxxvii. (1495) 719 Vynes mow be lad wyth rayllynge aboute houses and townes. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 441 The nose is blackish, a line being softly led through the length, and only through the top of the outside thereof. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. v. 3 Ten small sticks, which let him that leadeth the Chain, carry in his Hand before. 1834–47J. S. Macaulay Field Fortif. (1851) 219 A charge is laid on the floor..and it is fired with a hose led outside. 1841J. T. J. Hewlett Parish Clerk I. 79 Bleed and blister, lead a mane, dock a tail. 1869Boutell Arms & Arm. viii. (1874) 142 System of pulleys, over which strong cords are led. 1876Preece & Sivewright Telegraphy 37 The insulated wire..is led up through the copper sulphate. 1885R. Bridges Eros & Psyche, March 25 Olive-border'd clouds o'er lilac led. 1892Longm. Mag. Nov. 88 Ropes..led through blocks fixed to stakes.
c. Naut. intr. Of a rope: To admit of being ‘led’.
c1860H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 38 The reef tackle leads through the upper sheave of the sister block. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Fair-lead, is applied to ropes as suffering the least friction in a block, when they are said to lead fair.
†d. To guide, steer (a boat); to guide, drive (a carriage; cf. F. conduire); to guide (a pen). Obs.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. ii. 179 Cartesadel the comissarie owre carte shal he lede. c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 12 Lede þe boot into þe hey see. c1384Chaucer H. Fame ii. 434 Pheton, wolde lede Algate his fader carte, and gye. 1430Lydg. Bochas v. vii. (1554) 127 To holde the plough and lede it with his hond. 1484Caxton Fables of æsop ii. xvi, Of a carter whiche ladde a Charyot or carte whiche a Mule drewe forthe. 1552Latimer Serm., St. Andrew's Day (1584) 241 Our Saviour..saith to Peter, Duc in altum—Lead thy boate into the deepe. 1567Satir. Poems Reform. iii. 49 With Romaine hand he could weill leid ane pen.
¶e. In literalisms of translation; = L. ducere and its compounds.
1382Wyclif Exod. xxvi. 37 Fyue pilers..before the whiche shal the tente be lad. ― Ezek. v. 1 Take to thee..rasour, shauynge heeris;..thou shalt lede it bi thin heed, and bi thi beerd. ― Mark xiv. 47 Oon of men stondinge aboute, leding out a swerd, smot the seruaunt of the hiȝeste prest.
† f. To multiply (a number into another). Obs.
c1430Arte of Nombryng (E.E.T.S.) 15 Lede the rote of o quadrat into the roote of the oþer quadrat, and þan wolle the meene shew. Ibid. 17 A digit, the whiche lade in hymself cubikly [etc.].
†9.
a. To conduct (affairs); to manage, govern.
c1200Ormin 17238 To ledenn a þe bodiȝ rihht All affterr Godess lare. a1300Cursor M. 4256 Þan was ioseph bath luued and dred Wit wisdom al his werkes ledd. c1320Cast. Love 306 Wiþ-outen þeos foure wiþ worschipe Mai no Kyng lede gret lordschipe. a1366Chaucer Rom. Rose 400 She had no-thing hir-self to lede..More than a child of two yeer olde. 1375Barbour Bruce i. 38 Alexander the King..That Scotland haid to steyr and leid. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. i. (1495) 2 This game rule and lede And bringe it to a good ende. c1470Golagros & Gaw. 48 Ask leif at the lord, yone landis suld leid. 1567Gude & Godlie Ball. (S.T.S.) 41 Gif thai heir not the Law, quhilk suld thame leide Than sall thay not in ony wayis beleif.
absol.a1300Cursor M. 28277 Maister o childer i was sum-quare, I ledd noght lele wit my lare. 1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. July 185 For shepeheards (sayd he) there doen leade, As Lordes done other where.
†b. refl. To conduct oneself, behave, act. Obs.
c1200Ormin 1246 Ȝiff þu þe ledesst all wiþþ skill. c1250Gen. & Ex. 2301 Hu he sulden hem best leden. a1300Cursor M. 8470 Hu þat he agh him for to lede. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxx. (Theodera) 833 In vertuise..he..sa can hyme-selfe leyde þat..þai..mad hyme abbot.
†10. To deal with, treat (cf. guide v. 5). In pa. pple.: Circumstanced, situated, in such and such a condition.
c1205Lay. 8726 Heo weoren swiðe uuele ilæd. Ibid. 27713 Þer weoren Rom-leoden reouliche iledde. a1225Leg. Kath. 624 Hu me ham walde þreatin ant leaden unlaheliche. c1340Cursor M. 13787 (Trin.) For so in sekenes am I lad þat [etc.]. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. iii. 154 Heo ledeth the lawe as hire luste. c1450Merlin 331 Whan he saugh the kynge Rion so euell I-ledde, it a-noyed hym sore. c1489Caxton Sonnes of Aymon iii. 81 Thise glotons that leden our folke so cursedly.
II. To carry on.
†11. To engage or take part in, to perform (dances, songs), to utter (joyful or mournful) sounds. Cf. L. ducere carmen, choros, G. die reihen führen. Obs.
A different sense of to lead a dance appears under sense 13.
a1000Andreas 1477 (Gr.) He wæs eft swa ær lof lædende. c1250Gen. & Ex. 699 Of ðis kinge wil we leden songe. a1300Cursor M. 28147 Caroles, iolites, and plaies, Ic haue be-haldyn and ledde in ways. c1325Coer de L. 3739 The damyseles lede daunse. 13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1894 Ȝet is þe lorde on þe launde, ledande his gomnes. 1382Wyclif Judith iii. 10 Ledende dauncis in trumpis and timbris. c1489Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xx. 446, I have seen Reynawd, Alard, guychard, & Rychard ledyng grete joye wyth grete company of Knyghtes. 1493Festivall (W. de W. 1515) 26 b, Thou hast thyn armes spredde to lede karolles and daunces.
12. a. To go through, pass (life, † a portion of time). Cf. L. ducere vitam, Gr. ἄγειν βίον, etc. Rarely, † To support life by (bread). † Also with forth.
c900tr. Bæda's Hist. iv. xxviii. [xxvii.] (1890) 360 Se ær in medmyclum ealonde, þæt is Farne nemned, ancorlif lædde. a1000Boeth. Metr. vii. 40 (Gr.) Forðon orsorᵹ lif ealniᵹ lædað woruldmen wise buton wendinge. c1175Lamb. Hom. 89 God sette e þam israelisce folce hu heo sculden heore lif leaden. c1200Ormin 9359 Þatt haffdenn ledd aȝȝ þeȝȝre lif Affterr þe flæshess wille. a1300Cursor M. 4027 He ledd his liue wit-vten blam. Ibid. 13279 Wit þair fissing war þai fedd And pouer liuelade þai ledd. a1366Chaucer Rom. Rose 216 She..ladde hir lyf only by breed Kneden with eisel. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xvii. 18 That al here lyf leden in lowenesse and in pouerte. c1425Seven Sag. (P.) 232 To have another wyf, For to ledde with thy lif. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. xxiii. 32 Thus this lady ledde forth her lyfe ther mekely. 1569J. Rogers Gl. Godly Loue 178 Very few leade lyves..according to the lawes of Christe. 1579Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 189 He may at his leasure..lead his Winter in Athens his Summer in Naples [etc.]. 1612H. Peacham Minerva Brit. 46 Heere sits Repentance, solitarie, sad,..As greeuing for the life, that she hath lad. a1661Fuller Worthies (1840) I. 276 He led his old age in London. 1710Steele Tatler No. 166 ⁋2 The Tastless Manner of Life, which a Set of idle Fellows lead in this Town. 1819Crabbe T. of Hall xii, They led in comfort a domestic life. 1821Keats Lamia i. 312 In Corinth..she..had led Days as happy as [etc.]. 1856Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. i. 13 That no human being should be at liberty to lead at his own pleasure an unaccountable existence. 1873Browning Red Cott. Nt.-cap 156 Do lead your own life and let ours alone!
†b. To pass through (pain, suffering); to bear, endure.
a1300Cursor M. 15703 Þe strang soru þat he ledd can na man rede in run. c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 15 Suffre not Sir Frethebald long to lede þis pyne. c1435Torr. Portugal 1054 Yt ys wylle the worse to lede. c1475Partenay 3785 Non knew the sorow by thaim lade and bore.
III. To precede, be foremost. (Cf. sense 2.)
13. a. To have the first place in; to march in the front line of; lit. and fig. esp. in to lead the dance (see dance n. 6), to lead the van.
c1380,a1616[see dance n. 6]. 1697Dryden æneid ix. 31 Messapus leads the Van. Ibid. xi. 905 Asylas leads the Chase. 1736T. Lediard Life Marlborough I. 98 The Grenadiers..led the Van. 1839Bailey Festus v. (1848) 49 May our country ever lead The world, for she is worthiest. 1865Lowell Wks. (1890) V. 285 A commonwealth whose greatest sin it has been to lead the van in freedom of opinion. 1869A. W. Ward tr. Curtius' Hist. Greece II. iii. iii. 478 In ancient times the choregi themselves led the chorus. 1884Graphic 23 Aug., Your cousin Gordon and I..had led the van all the morning. 1893Harper's Mag. Feb. 385/2 Of the causes..pneumonia led the list.
b. absol. To go first, to have the first place. Also with off.
1798Capt. Millar Aug. in Nicolas Disp. Nelson VII. p. cliv, The Goliath was leading, the Zealous next. 1824–9Landor Imag. Conv. Wks. 1846 II. 249 The mounted slave..led off with his master's charger. 1892Sat. Rev. 2 July 10/2 The boat..was leading by two hundred yards. 1900Blackw. Mag. June 789 The Admiral's frigate led.
fig.1858Greener Gunnery 300 If we take thirty or thirty-five yards' distance as an average, the latter will not ‘lead’ in the race. 1891Pall Mall G. 20 Oct. 6/1 The small hats which are to lead for the coming season.
14. intr.
a. Mus. (See quot. 1880.)
b. Change-ringing. Of a bell: To have the ‘lead’ (see lead n.2 8 a).
1671Stedman Tintinnalogia 82 Every bell leads four times, and lies behind twice, except when [etc.]. 1880Grove Dict. Mus., Lead, to, in fugues or imitative music, is to go off first with a point or subject, which is afterwards taken up by the other parts successively. Thus in the Amen Chorus in the Messiah the bass ‘leads’.
15. a. trans. To direct by one's example; to set (a fashion); to take the directing or principal part in (proceedings of any kind); to be chief of (a party, a movement); to have the official initiative in the proceedings of (a deliberative body).
1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iii. xxv. 228 They should rather lead a fashion of thrift, than follow one of riot. 1697Humfrey Righteousn. God i. 2 The Trent Doctrine (which is the perfect Papists) I must confess, is lead them by St. Austine. 1841W. Spalding Italy & It. Isl. II. 266 The famous insurrection led by Masaniello. 1872C. E. Maurice Life S. Langton i. 22 The Abbot..helped to lead the movement. 1880C. R. Markham Peruv. Bark 335 The Government should retain the chinchona plantations, and continue to lead the cultivation. 1891Sat. Rev. 31 Oct. 494/1 Disraeli still led the House of Commons. 1892Pall Mall G. 15 Sept. 7/1 He was able to lead the work himself. 1892Eng. Illustr. Mag. IX. 867 In conversation he seems rather to be led than to lead.
b. To take the directing part in (singing, a musical performance), to perform one's own part so as to guide the others; so to lead a band, lead an orchestra. Similarly, to lead the prayers (of a congregation), to lead (a congregation) in prayer. Also absol.
1849Chambers's Inform. II. 764/2 Sometimes a tenor voice will attempt to lead the trebles. 1859G. A. Lawrence Sword & Gown v. 51 He is so very anxious to get Cecil to lead the singing in church. 1866G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. xiii. (1878) 245 This fine old church in which I was honoured to lead the prayers of my people. 1880Goldw. Smith Cowper iii. 41 Cowper himself was made to do violence to his intense shyness by leading in prayer. 1883Fenn Middy & Ensign xxvi. 159 He..led the chorus, which was lustily trolled out by all present. 1891Graphic 31 Oct. 518/3 He went to lead the orchestra at the concert. 1892Harper's Mag. May 821/2 A woman..led the singing.
16. Of a barrister:
a. trans. To act as leading counsel in (a cause); to act as leader to (another barrister); to take precedence of.
b. absol. or intr.
1806–7J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life (1826) i. Introd., Were I however employed to lead the cause on our side. 1862A. Trollope Orley F. I. xxxiv. 268 Of course I must lead in defending her. 1883[see leader 3 c]. 1884Law Times 11 Oct. LXXVII. 384/1 It has been the practice of English Queen's Counsel to lead colonial Queen's Counsel in appeals before the Judicial Committee.
17. Card-playing.
a. intr. To play the first card in a round or trick. Also with off. Said also of the card. to lead to or lead up to: to play a card in order to bring out (cards held by another player). Also in indirect pass.
1677Miege Eng.-Fr. Dict. s.v., To lead (in Cards), jouër le premier. 1727–52Chambers Cycl. s.v. Ombre, Matadores..are not obliged to attend an inferior trump when it leads. 1742Hoyle Whist 11 When you lead, begin with the best Suit in your Hand. 1863‘Cavendish’ Whist (ed. 5) 75 You would often do better to..lead up to the weak suit of your right-hand adversary, or through the strong suit of your left-hand adversary. 1879― Card Ess., etc. 110 Lead orginally from your strongest suit. Ibid. 165 He led off with his own strongest suit. 1892Field 16 July 120/1 He was keeping his tenace to be led to.
b. trans. As first player, to play (a specified card); to play one of (a suit or a specified suit). Also with out.
1731Swift Death Dr. Swift 239, I lead a heart. 1742Hoyle Whist (1763) 5 Let us suppose the right-hand Adversary leads a Suit. 1778C. Jones Hoyle's Games Impr. 90 Lead Punto. 1843Thackeray Ravenswing v, You led the club. 1879‘Cavendish’ Card Ess., etc. 111 It is an excellent plan to lead out first one suit and then another. Ibid. 171, I led knave of diamonds..The club was then led through me. Ibid. 198, I led the king of trumps. 1891Field 28 Nov. 843/1 He ought in any case to lead trumps.
IV. In idiomatic combination with adverbs. (For the non-specialized combinations, see the several senses and the advs.)
18. lead away.
a. trans. To induce to follow unthinkingly. Chiefly in pass.: to yield to enthusiasm, to give credence to misrepresentation.
1736T. Lediard Life Marlborough III. 163 Some Men are led away by the Spirit of Party. 1861Temple Bar II. 395 Grace is easily led away.
b. Naut. to lead it away: to take one's course.
1720De Foe Capt. Singleton xiii. (1840) 229 We led it away, with the wind large, to the Maldives.
19. lead off.
a. trans. To ‘open’, take the first steps in (a dance, a ball); hence gen. to begin, make a beginning in; to open (a conversation or discussion). Const. with.
b. intr. or absol. Also with to.
a.1817Jane Austen Sanditon vi. in Minor Works (1954) 389 Sir Edw: Denham & Miss Denham, whose names might be said to lead off the Season. 1847Punch 27 Mar. 126/2 To lead off a list of Expiring Acts with one that is to live till the National Debt is paid off..is a delusion. 1881Mrs. E. Lynn Linton My Love I. xiii. 229 The twins leading off the family ball. 1890A. Gissing Vill. Hampden II. iv. 66 The dance..was led off to the popular strains of the ‘Keel-Row’. 1893Illustr. Lond. News 28 Jan. 109/2 A well-known dramatic critic led off the congratulations.
b.1806R. Cumberland Mem. of himself 18 On some occasions, she would persist in a determined taciturnity, to the regret of the company present; and at other times would lead off in her best manner. 1809Malkin Gil Blas iii. v. ⁋8, I led off with five or six coxcombical bows. 1862Temple Bar IV. 500 The primo tenore..leads off with ‘Hard times no more’. 1882Stevenson Fam. Stud. 267 A boy of fifteen to lead off with a lass of seventeen. 1893Harper's Mag. Jan. 210/2 He led off with his companion in a sort of quickstep. 1911Chambers's Jrnl. July 463/2 From these [wagons] rubber tubes protected by encircling wire lead off to each of the streets.
20. lead on.
a. trans. To induce gradually to advance; to entice or beguile into going to greater lengths.
b. intr. To direct conversation to a subject.
1598Shakes. Merry W. ii. i. 98 Giue him a show of comfort in his Suit, and lead him on with a fine baited delay. 1833Keble Serm. vi. (1848) 141 She will continually be led on from bad to worse. 1840Dickens Old C. Shop vi, I've led her on to tell her secret. 1891F. W. Robinson Her Love & His Life III. vi. ix. 195 Mike led on to the one subject which engrossed him. 1891Mrs. Henniker Sir George vi. 113 Don't pretend, now, you didn't encourage and lead me on.
21. lead out. trans. = lead off 19 a. Also, to conduct (a partner) to the dance.
1818Scott Br. Lamm. xxxv, The picture of Auld Sir Malise Ravenswood came down on the ha' floor, and led out the brawl before them a'. 1859Reade Love me little xiv. (1868) 190 The stable-boy..leading out one of the housemaids..proceeded to country dancing.
absol.1776Pratt Pupil Pleas. (1777) I. 172 The soft things he said, while we led out.
22. lead through. Mountaineering. Said of two climbers: to act alternately as leaders (see quots.). Hence leading through vbl. n.
1945G. W. Young Mountain Craft (ed. 4) v. 184 Nowadays, two such experts..make a practice of ‘leading through’: that is..the second man on reaching his leader climbs straight on past him and leads the next section. 1955M. E. B. Banks Commando Climber ix. 177 We were leading through, that is to say, one of us would climb a pitch and belay himself to the rock, whereupon the other would climb up to him and then continue beyond to lead the next pitch. 1970A. Blackshaw Mountaineering (rev. ed.) v. 143 For experienced climbers two is the best number since this is quick and allows them to ‘lead through’. Ibid. xvii. 420 Leading through may not save as much time on alpine rock as it does on British rock.
23. lead up.
a. trans. = lead off 19 a. ? Obs.
1731Lady M. W. Montagu Poems, Farewell to Bath v, I've led up many a ball. 1754Richardson Grandison VI. xxvii. 166 What a frolic dance will she and her new husband, in a little while, lead up. 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. ix, Mr. Thornhill and my eldest daughter led up the ball. 1799M. Edgeworth Pop. Tales, Limerick Gloves i, She did not object to her own Jenny's leading up the ball.
b. intr. to lead up to: to prepare gradually for: to form a gradual preparation for.
1861Temple Bar IV. 101 The circumstances which led up to the explosion of the..conspiracy. 1880McCarthy Own Times III. xlv. 381 Perhaps he had deliberately led up to this very point. 1892Westcott Gospel of Life Pref. 22 All earlier history leads up to the Incarnation. 1892Sat. Rev. 2 Jan. 16/2 The harlequinade..is led up to by a tasteful transformation scene.
Sense 2 h in Dict. becomes 2 i. Add: [I.] [2.] h. Boxing. To make an attacking punch; to make the first of a series of punches. Freq. const. with. Cf. lead n.2 5 c.
1895T. Roosevelt Works (1926) XIV. 205 If you are going to ‘lead freely’ you have got to ‘take punishment’, if you will allow me to speak in the language of those who box. 1927D. Hammett in Black Mask Feb. 28/1 A paluka who leads with his right. 1935Encycl. Sports 105/1 When a beginner is directed by his instructor to lead to the body, it is no use his aiming a blow at his antagonist's chest. 1952Amat. Boxing (‘Know the Game’ Ser.) 16/1 As he leads, parry his right towards your right with the left and then lead with a right swing to head or body.
[5.] b. Law. To ask (a witness) leading questions. Cf. sense 20 a below. Chiefly U.S.
1833A. Alison Practice Criminal Law Scotl. xiii. 545 Witnesses are to be examined without being led. 1899Southwestern Reporter (U.S.) L. 124/1 It..enables the examiner to lead even an honest witness in such manner as to give to the testimony a false color. 1973Times 17 Oct. 20/3 The police sergeant..was..slapped down by the clerk of the court for leading his witnesses. 1983Southern Reporter (U.S.) CDXXXVI. 479/1 Ordinarily, leading questions are permitted on cross-examination, and the rule against leading one's own witness is relaxed.
[III.] [13.] c. trans. Sport. To be ahead of (another team or player) in terms of points, goals, etc. Usu. const. by. Also transf., to exceed or outnumber by a specified margin.
1877Spirit of Times 24 Nov. 449/2 At 800 yards the Massachusetts men held steadily, Wemyss leading with 71, Jackson and Law 70. 1907C. E. Mulford Bar-20 xi. 120 In this contest Hopalong Cassidy led his nearest rival..by twenty cut-outs. 1946Times 26 June 2/3 The Dutch pair, after missing a set point when leading by six games to five, finally secured the first set at 9–7. 1979Amer. Speech LIV. 73 In another study..will led shall in frequency of occurrence by only 59 percent to 41 percent. 1989Daily Tel. 6 July 35 (heading) Northants, with seven wickets standing, lead Kent by 90 runs.
d. intr. Of a newspaper or other journalistic media: to use a particular item as the main story. Const. † upon, with.
1907Daily Chron. 5 Mar. 6/7 The case was of an entrancing subtlety;..and every newspaper ‘led’ upon the result. 1986Times 23 July 16/6 For Princess Margaret's wedding The Times, under a notoriously uncourtierly editor, did not even lead with the story. 1990A. Gordon Safe at Home iii. 14 There was nothing about the latest murder, which had been discovered after the morning edition deadline, but the 7:00 CBC Radio news led with it.
▪ IV. lead, v.2|lɛd|
Also 5 lede, leedyn, 6 leed.
[f. lead n.1]
†1. trans.
a. To make (something) of lead.
b. To make dull and heavy as lead. Obs.
c1420Pallad. on Husb. ix. 175 Or pipis hit to condit me may lede. c1430Pilgr. Lyf Manhode ii. xc. (1869) 109 With this ax I dulle and lede [F. j'assomme..et aplomme] the clerkes at cherche.
2. To cover with lead. Also with over.
c1440Promp. Parv. 292/2 Leedyn wythe leed, plumbo. 1479Bury Wills (Camden) 53 A new rooff to the churche of Euston and ledyd. 1530Palsgr. 604/2, I leede, I cover a thing, or a rofe of a house, with leede. 1552Inventories (Surtees) 10 And the quier all leadid. a1661Fuller Worthies (1840) II. 293 She leaded and paved the Friday Market Cross in Stamford. 1691T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. 40 Sent away naked (saving in her Keel, which was Leaded). 1748Anson's Voy. iii. ii. 316 The Carpenters..caulked all the seams..and leaded them over. 1826Scott Woodst. xvii, We gained the roof..which was in part leaded. 1862[see leaded ppl. a.].
3. To arm, load, or weight with lead.
1481Caxton Reynard viii. (Arb.) 16 A croked staf wel leded on thende for to playe at the balle. 1483― Gold. Leg. 191 b/2 They bete this holy man with..Scourges leded. 1651–7T. Barker Art of Angling (1820) 25 Lead the shank of the hook. 1787Best Angling (ed. 2) 12 The line should always be leaded according to the rapidity, or quietness of the river you angle in. 1842C. J. Lever Jack Hinton (1843) xxv. 172, I..seated myself in the scale..and my saddle being leaded to the required weight, the operation took not a minute.
4. a. To fix (glass of a window) with leaden cames. Also with in, up.
1530Palsgr. 604/2, I wyll leed no mo wyndowes, it is to costely. a1626Bacon New Atl. (1900) 26 A carved Window of Glasse, leaded with Gold and blew. 1885F. Miller Glass Painting vii. 69 Where very small pieces of glass have to be leaded in the finest or ‘string’ lead can be used. 1886Willis & Clark Cambridge I. 443 The glass [of the windows] was new leaded. 1899Mackail Life Morris II. 42 The glass was burned and leaded up.
b. To set or fasten in firmly with molten lead.
1793Smeaton Edystone L. 274 The next day..Course XXIX. was set, and its circular chain leaded in also.
†5. To line (pottery) with lead or lead-glaze; to glaze. Also with over. Obs.
1558Warde tr. Alexis' Secretes 73 Boyle them together in an earthen panne or potte leaded. 1594Plat Jewell-ho. ii. 30 Great stone pottes that bee leaded within. 1611Bible Ecclus. xxxviii. 30 He [the potter] applieth himselfe to lead it ouer. 1686Plot Staffordsh. 123 After the vessels are painted, they lead them, with that sort of Lead-Ore they cal Smithum, which is the smallest Ore of all, beaten into dust, finely sifted and strewed upon them.
6. Printing. To separate the lines of type by interposing leads (see lead n.1 8).
1841Savage Dict. Printing 179 When a work is double leaded. 1852W. Wilks Half Cent. Pref., Twenty-three sheets of bourgeois leaded. 1875Southward Dict. Typogr., Lead out—a direction given in order that leads may be put between lines of matter.
7. intr. Naut. To use the lead; to take soundings.
1858C. Kirton in Merc. Marine Mag. V. 246 He would..sooner haul off the land out of soundings, than run..close in and lead.
8. pass. and intr. Of a gun-barrel: To become foul with a coating of lead.
1875‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Sports i. i. xi. §6. 47 If either gun has its barrels leaded..the scratch-brush must be used till the lead is removed. 1881Greener Gun 130 The barrel also leads very quickly.
9. trans. To smooth the inside of (a gun-barrel) with a lap of lead (see lap n.4 b).
1881Greener Gun 146 When once rifled, the barrel cannot—as in the Henry, Ratchet, and other riflings—be leaded or otherwise regulated, except with the rifling machine. |