World Book 1997 4.0

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<HTML> <HEAD><TITLE>DICTIONARY: lead - lead dioxide</TITLE></HEAD> <BODY BGCOLOR="#ffffff"> <A HREF="a.dic">A</A> <A HREF="b.dic">B</A> <A HREF="c.dic">C</A> <A HREF="d.dic">D</A> <A HREF="e.dic">E</A> <A HREF="f.dic">F</A> <A HREF="g.dic">G</A> <A HREF="h.dic">H</A> <A HREF="i.dic">I</A> <A HREF="j.dic">J</A> <A HREF="k.dic">K</A> <A HREF="l.dic">L</A> <A HREF="m.dic">M</A> <A HREF="n.dic">N</A> <A HREF="o.dic">O</A> <A HREF="p.dic">P</A> <A HREF="q.dic">Q</A> <A HREF="r.dic">R</A> <A HREF="s.dic">S</A> <A HREF="t.dic">T</A> <A HREF="u.dic">U</A> <A HREF="v.dic">V</A> <A HREF="w.dic">W</A> <A HREF="x.dic">X</A> <A HREF="y.dic">Y</A> <A HREF="z.dic">Z</A> <A NAME="lead"> lead (1), verb, led, leading, noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD>v.t. 1a. to show the way by going along with or in front of; guide. Ex. The usher will lead you to your seats. The Star led the Three Wise Men to Bethlehem. (SYN) conduct. <DD> b. to serve to guide. Ex. His cries for help led us to him. (SYN) conduct. <DD> 2a. to conduct, as by hand or rope. Ex. He leads the horses to water. <DD> b. to conduct or bring in a particular channel or course; convey. Ex. to lead water into a basin, lead a wire through an opening. This highway leads most of the traffic into the city. <DD> c. to bring something to a particular condition or result. Ex. Lack of a willingness to compromise led the country to the point of civil war. <DD> 3. to guide or direct, as in action, policy, or opinion; influence; persuade. Ex. Such actions lead us to distrust him. (SYN) induce, entice. <DD> 4. (Figurative.) to go or be first among; have first place; be at the top or head of. Ex. She leads the class in spelling. The elephants led the parade. <DD> 5. to pass or spend (time, life) in some special way. Ex. He leads a quiet life in the country. <DD> 6. to be chief of; command; direct. Ex. A general leads an army. The Archbishop is leading the movement. He leads the community orchestra. A woman led the singing. (SYN) head, manage, control. <DD> 7. to begin or open. Ex. She led the dance. He will lead the program. <DD> 8. (in card playing) to begin a trick or round by playing (a card or suit named). Ex. to lead trumps. <DD> 9. (Boxing.) to direct (a blow) at an opponent. <DD> 10. to discharge a firearm, arrow, spear, rocket, or other missile at (a moving target), making allowance for the distance it will advance before the shot reaches it; aim in front of. Ex. A flying bird may require to be led several feet. <DD> 11. (Archaic.) to take or bring. Ex. We led them away prisoners. <DD>v.i. 1. to act as guide; show the way. Ex. Lead, I will follow. <DD> 2. to be a way to a certain condition; be a means of proceeding to or effecting a certain result. Ex. Hard work leads to success. The frequent outbreaks led to civil war. <DD> 3. to form a channel or route. Ex. The drain led into a common sewer. All roads lead to Rome. <DD> 4. to afford passage or way. Ex. Broad steps lead down into the garden. <DD> 5. to be led; submit to being led. Ex. This horse leads easily. <DD> 6. to be chief; direct; act as leader. Ex. And when we think we lead, we are most led (Byron). <DD> 7. (Figurative.) to go first; have the first place. Ex. to lead in a race. In arithmetic he is way down in the class, but in spelling he leads. <DD> 8. to take the leading part; start a dance, begin or open a discussion, etc. <DD> 9. to make the first play at cards. Ex. You may lead this time. <DD> 10. (Boxing.) to deal one's opponent the first blow; take the offensive. <DD>noun 1. guidance or direction; leadership; example; precedence. Ex. Many countries in the western world followed the lead of the United States after World War II. Recent work ... using radioisotope techniques ... is giving a new lead on the selective action of weedkillers (New Scientist). <DD> 2. the place of a leader; place in front; position in advance. Ex. He always takes the lead when we plan to do anything. <DD> 3. in card playing: <DD> a. the right to go or begin first. Ex. It is your lead this time. <DD> b. the card or suit so played. Ex. You should usually return your partner's lead. <DD> 4a. the principal part in a play. <DD> b. the person who plays it. <DD> 5. the amount that one is ahead; extent of advance. Ex. He had a lead of 3 yards in the race. <DD> 6. something that leads, as a path, channel, or watercourse. <DD> 7. a string, strap, light chain, or rope for leading a dog or other animal; leash. Ex. He had his dog on a lead. <DD> 8. a guiding indication. Ex. He was not sure where to look for the information, but the librarian gave him several good leads. <DD> 9a. the opening paragraph in a newspaper or magazine article. A lead usually summarizes the information in the body of the article. Ex. Once the lead is outlined, the rest of a news story can be quickly written. <DD> b. the main front-page story in a newspaper. <DD> 10a. an insulated conductor conveying electricity. <DD> b. =lead-in. <DD> 11. (Boxing.) a taking of the offensive; a first blow directed at an opponent. <DD> 12. (Baseball.) a position assumed by a base runner, a short distance off base in the direction of the next base. <DD> 13. (Mining.) <DD> a. =lode. Ex. the silver leads of the large mines. <DD> b. a deposit of gold-bearing gravel along the course of an old river. <DD> 14. an open channel through an ice field. Ex. The explorers found a lead which would get them to open water. <DD> 15. (Nautical.) the proper course for a rope, especially in a ship's running rigging. Ex. The lead of each rope was fixed in Harvey's mind (Rudyard Kipling). <DD> 16a. the aiming of a firearm, arrow, spear, rocket, or other missile, in advance of a moving target. <DD> b. the distance allowed in so aiming. <DD>adj. 1. that leads or is used for leading; leading. Ex. the lead violin, a horse on a lead rein. <DD> 2. guided by a lead. Ex. a lead horse. expr. lead off, <DD> a. to begin; start. Ex. He led off with his companion in a sort of quickstep (Harper's). <DD> b. (Baseball.) to be the first player in the batting order or the first to bat in an inning. Ex. He led off with a triple to left field. expr. lead on, to persuade or entice to follow an unwise course of action; mislead. Ex. I have suspected she is leading him on for his money (John Ciardi). expr. lead up to, <DD> a. to prepare the way for. Ex. The harlequinade ... is led up to by a tasteful transformation scene (Saturday Review). <DD> b. to approach (a subject) in an evasive or gradual manner. Ex. He had guessed what she had to say from the way she'd led up to it (James T. Farrell). adj. leadable. </DL> <A NAME="lead"> lead (2), noun, adjective, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD>noun 1. a heavy, easily melted, bluish-gray metallic chemical element. It is used to make pipes, machinery, and radiation shields, as a solder, and in alloys. It occurs naturally in galena. <DD> 2. something made of lead or one of its alloys. <DD> 3. bullets; shot. Ex. a hail of lead. <DD> 4. a long, thin piece of graphite used in pencils. <DD> 5. a weight, usually 7 to 14 pounds, on a marked line used to find out the depth of water; plumb; plummet. <DD> 6a. a thin metal strip, less than type-high, for widening the space between lines in printing. <DD> b. these strips collectively. <DD> 7a. =graphite. <DD> b. =white lead. <DD>adj. made of lead; consisting of lead. Ex. a lead pipe. <DD>v.t. 1. to cover, frame, or weight with lead. <DD> 2. to insert leads between the lines of (print). <DD> 3. to mix or impregnate with lead or a compound containing lead. Ex. to lead gasoline. <DD> 4. to set (window glass) within leads. <DD> 5. to line or glaze (pottery) with glaze containing lead. expr. leads, <DD> a. frames of lead in which panes of glass are set, as in stained-glass windows; leading. Ex. It gives the effect of weakness to see large pieces of glass leaded with narrow leads (F. Miller). <DD> b. strips of lead used to cover roofs; leading. Ex. The tempest crackles on the leads (Tennyson). <DD> c. a lead roof. Ex. A cat ... whom she used to meet in the evenings, upon the leads of the house (C. Johnston). expr. like a lead balloon. See under balloon. expr. swing the lead, (British Slang.) to shirk work; malinger. Ex. A 30-year-old man might appear to be "swinging the lead" when investigation would show that he had, for example, just come out of a mental hospital (London Times). </DL> <A NAME="leadacetate"> lead acetate,<DL COMPACT><DD> a colorless or white, poisonous, crystalline compound used as a reagent, in dyeing; sugar of lead. </DL> <A NAME="leadacidbattery"> lead-acid battery,<DL COMPACT><DD> a storage battery that produces electricity by chemical reaction between lead electrodes and an electrolyte of dilute sulfuric acid. Most automobiles use a lead-acid battery. </DL> <A NAME="leadarsenate"> lead arsenate,<DL COMPACT><DD> a poisonous white, crystalline compound used as an insecticide; arsenate of lead. </DL> <A NAME="leadazide"> lead azide,<DL COMPACT><DD> a colorless, crystalline, highly explosive compound handled safely only when immersed in water, and used as a primary detonating agent for high explosives. </DL> <A NAME="leadbeaterscockatoo"> Leadbeater's cockatoo,<DL COMPACT><DD> a white Australian cockatoo with a salmon-pink inner wing; pink cockatoo. </DL> <A NAME="leadbeaterspossum"> Leadbeater's possum,<DL COMPACT><DD> a small, nearly extinct mammal of Australia, a phalanger, that lives in the hollows of trees and feeds on insects and nectar. </DL> <A NAME="leadcarbonate"> lead carbonate, =white lead.</DL> <A NAME="leadchromate"> lead chromate,<DL COMPACT><DD> a yellow, crystalline solid formed by the addition of a chromate to a lead salt, used as chrome yellow. </DL> <A NAME="leadcolic"> lead colic, =painter's colic.</DL> <A NAME="leaddioxide"> lead dioxide,<DL COMPACT><DD> a highly toxic crystalline compound, used as an oxidizing agent, as an electrode in storage batteries, as a mordant in textiles, and in the manufacture of explosives; lead peroxide. </DL> <A HREF="leaden.dic">NEXT</A>