lead \lead\ le^d, n. oe. led, leed, lead, as. le'ad; akin
   to d. lood, mhg. l=ot, g. loth plummet, sounding lead,
   small weight, sw.  dan. lod. root123.
   1. chem. one of the elements, a heavy, pliable, inelastic
      metal, having a bright, bluish color, but easily
      tarnished. it is both malleable and ductile, though with
      little tenacity, and is used for tubes, sheets, bullets,
      etc. its specific gravity is 11.37. it is easily fusible
      melting point 327.5deg c, forms alloys with other
      metals, and is an ingredient of solder and type metal.
      atomic number 82. atomic weight, 207.2. symbol pb l.
      plumbum. it is chiefly obtained from the mineral galena,
      lead sulphide.
      1913 webster

   2. an article made of lead or an alloy of lead; as:
      a a plummet or mass of lead, used in sounding at sea.
      b print. a thin strip of type metal, used to separate
          lines of type in printing.
      c sheets or plates of lead used as a covering for roofs;
          hence, pl., a roof covered with lead sheets or terne
          plates.
          1913 webster

                i would have the tower two stories, and goodly
                leads upon the top.               --bacon
          1913 webster

   3. a small cylinder of black lead or graphite, used in
      pencils.
      1913 webster

   black lead, graphite or plumbago; -- so called from its
      leadlike appearance and streak. colloq.

   coasting lead, a sounding lead intermediate in weight
      between a hand lead and deep-sea lead.

   deep-sea lead, the heaviest of sounding leads, used in
      water exceeding a hundred fathoms in depth. --ham. nav.
      encyc.

   hand lead, a small lead use for sounding in shallow water.
      

   krems lead, kremnitz lead so called from krems or
      kremnitz, in austria, a pure variety of white lead,
      formed into tablets, and called also krems white, or
      kremnitz white, and vienna white.

   lead arming, tallow put in the hollow of a sounding lead.
      see to arm the lead below.

   lead colic. see under colic.

   lead color, a deep bluish gray color, like tarnished lead.
      

   lead glance. min. same as galena.

   lead line
      a med. a dark line along the gums produced by a
          deposit of metallic lead, due to lead poisoning.
      b naut. a sounding line.

   lead mill, a leaden polishing wheel, used by lapidaries.

   lead ocher min., a massive sulphur-yellow oxide of lead.
      same as massicot.

   lead pencil, a pencil of which the marking material is
      graphite black lead.

   lead plant bot., a low leguminous plant, genus amorpha
      amorpha canescens, found in the northwestern united
      states, where its presence is supposed to indicate lead
      ore. --gray.

   lead tree.
      a bot. a west indian name for the tropical, leguminous
          tree, leucaena glauca; -- probably so called from
          the glaucous color of the foliage.
      b chem. lead crystallized in arborescent forms from a
          solution of some lead salt, as by suspending a strip
          of zinc in lead acetate.

   mock lead, a miner's term for blende.

   red lead, a scarlet, crystalline, granular powder,
      consisting of minium when pure, but commonly containing
      several of the oxides of lead. it is used as a paint or
      cement and also as an ingredient of flint glass.

   red lead ore min., crocoite.

   sugar of lead, acetate of lead.

   to arm the lead, to fill the hollow in the bottom of a
      sounding lead with tallow in order to discover the nature
      of the bottom by the substances adhering. --ham. nav.
      encyc.

   to cast the lead, or to heave the lead, to cast the
      sounding lead for ascertaining the depth of water.

   white lead, hydrated carbonate of lead, obtained as a
      white, amorphous powder, and much used as an ingredient of
      white paint.
      1913 webster
see also:
black lead coasting lead deep-sea lead hand lead krems lead kremnitz lead 
krems white kremnitz white vienna white lead arming to arm the lead 
lead colic colic lead color lead glance galena 
lead line lead mill lead ocher massicot lead pencil 
lead plant amorpha amorpha canescens lead tree leucaena glauca 
mock lead red lead red lead ore sugar of lead to cast the lead 
to heave the lead white lead 

red \red\, a. compar. redder -d?r; superl. reddest. oe.
   red, reed, as. re'ad, re'od; akin to os. r=od, ofries.
   r=ad, d. rood, g. roht, rot, ohg. r=ot, dan.  sw.
   r"od, icel. rauethr, rj=oethr, goth. r'auds, w.
   rhudd, armor. ruz, ir.  gael. ruadh, l. ruber, rufus, gr.
   'eryqro`s, skr. rudhira, rohita; cf. l. rutilus. root113.
   cf. erysipelas, rouge, rubric, ruby, ruddy,
   russet, rust.
   of the color of blood, or of a tint resembling that color; of
   the hue of that part of the rainbow, or of the solar
   spectrum, which is furthest from the violet part. "fresh
   flowers, white and reede." --chaucer.
   1913 webster

         your color, i warrant you, is as red as any rose.
                                                  --shak.
   1913 webster

   note: red is a general term, including many different shades
         or hues, as scarlet, crimson, vermilion, orange red,
         and the like.
         1913 webster

   note: red is often used in the formation of self-explaining
         compounds; as, red-breasted, red-cheeked, red-faced,
         red-haired, red-headed, red-skinned, red-tailed,
         red-topped, red-whiskered, red-coasted.
         1913 webster

   red admiral zool., a beautiful butterfly vanessa
      atalanta common in both europe and america. the front
      wings are crossed by a broad orange red band. the larva
      feeds on nettles. called also atalanta butterfly, and
      nettle butterfly.

   red ant. zool.
   a a very small ant myrmica molesta which often infests
       houses.
   b a larger reddish ant formica sanguinea, native of
       europe and america. it is one of the slave-making
       species.

   red antimony min., kermesite. see kermes mineral
   b, under kermes.

   red ash bot., an american tree fraxinus pubescens,
      smaller than the white ash, and less valuable for timber.
      --cray.

   red bass. zool. see redfish
   d .

   red bay bot., a tree persea caroliniensis having the
      heartwood red, found in swamps in the southern united
      states.

   red beard zool., a bright red sponge microciona
      prolifera, common on oyster shells and stones. local,
      u.s.

   red birch bot., a species of birch betula nigra
      having reddish brown bark, and compact, light-colored
      wood. --gray.

   red blindness. med. see daltonism.

   red book, a book containing the names of all the persons in
      the service of the state. eng.

   red book of the exchequer, an ancient record in which are
      registered the names of all that held lands per baroniam
      in the time of henry ii. --brande  c.

   red brass, an alloy containing eight parts of copper and
      three of zinc.

   red bug. zool.
   a a very small mite which in florida attacks man, and
       produces great irritation by its bites.
   b a red hemipterous insect of the genus pyrrhocoris,
       especially the european species pyrrhocoris apterus,
       which is bright scarlet and lives in clusters on tree
       trunks.
   c see cotton stainder, under cotton.

   red cedar. bot. an evergreen north american tree
      juniperus virginiana having a fragrant red-colored
      heartwood.
   b a tree of india and australia cedrela toona having
       fragrant reddish wood; -- called also toon tree in
       india.

   red horse. zool.
   a any large american red fresh-water sucker, especially
       moxostoma macrolepidotum and allied species.
   b see the note under drumfish.

   red lead.
   chem see under lead, and minium.

   red-lead ore. min. same as crocoite.

   red liquor dyeing, a solution consisting essentially of
      aluminium acetate, used as a mordant in the fixation of
      dyestuffs on vegetable fiber; -- so called because used
      originally for red dyestuffs. called also red mordant.
      

   red maggot zool., the larva of the wheat midge.

   red manganese. min. same as rhodochrosite.

   red man, one of the american indians; -- so called from his
      color.

   red maple bot., a species of maple acer rubrum. see
      maple.

   red mite. zool. see red spider, below.

   red mulberry bot., an american mulberry of a dark purple
      color morus rubra.

   red mullet zool., the surmullet. see mullet.

   red ocher min., a soft earthy variety of hematite, of a
      reddish color.

   red perch zool., the rosefish.

   red phosphorus. chem. see under phosphorus.

   red pine bot., an american species of pine pinus
      resinosa; -- so named from its reddish bark.

   red precipitate. see under precipitate.

   red republican european politics, originally, one who
      maintained extreme republican doctrines in france, --
      because a red liberty cap was the badge of the party; an
      extreme radical in social reform. cant

   red ribbon, the ribbon of the order of the bath in england.
      

   red sanders. bot. see sanders.

   red sandstone. geol. see under sandstone.

   red scale zool., a scale insect aspidiotus aurantii
      very injurious to the orange tree in california and
      australia.

   red silver min., an ore of silver, of a ruby-red or
      reddish black color. it includes proustite, or light red
      silver, and pyrargyrite, or dark red silver.

   red snapper zool., a large fish lutjanus aya syn.
      lutjanus blackfordii abundant in the gulf of mexico and
      about the florida reefs.

   red snow, snow colored by a mocroscopic unicellular alga
      protococcus nivalis which produces large patches of
      scarlet on the snows of arctic or mountainous regions.

   red softening med. a form of cerebral softening in which
      the affected parts are red, -- a condition due either to
      infarction or inflammation.

   red spider zool., a very small web-spinning mite
      tetranychus telarius which infests, and often
      destroys, plants of various kinds, especially those
      cultivated in houses and conservatories. it feeds mostly
      on the under side of the leaves, and causes them to turn
      yellow and die. the adult insects are usually pale red.
      called also red mite.

   red squirrel zool., the chickaree.

   red tape,
   a the tape used in public offices for tying up documents,
       etc. hence,
   b official formality and delay; excessive bureaucratic
       paperwork.

   red underwing zool., any species of noctuid moths
      belonging to catacola and allied genera. the numerous
      species are mostly large and handsomely colored. the under
      wings are commonly banded with bright red or orange.

   red water, a disease in cattle, so called from an
      appearance like blood in the urine.
      1913 webster
see also:
redder reddest erysipelas rouge rubric ruby 
ruddy russet rust red admiral vanessa atalanta 
atalanta butterfly nettle butterfly red ant myrmica molesta formica sanguinea 
red antimony kermes mineral kermes red ash fraxinus pubescens 
red bass redfish red bay persea caroliniensis red beard 
microciona prolifera red birch betula nigra red blindness daltonism 
red book red book of the exchequer red brass red bug pyrrhocoris 
pyrrhocoris apterus cotton stainder cotton red cedar juniperus virginiana 
cedrela toona toon tree red horse moxostoma macrolepidotum drumfish 
red lead lead minium red-lead ore crocoite 
red liquor red mordant red maggot red manganese rhodochrosite 
red man red maple acer rubrum maple red mite 
red spider red mulberry morus rubra red mullet mullet 
red ocher red perch red phosphorus phosphorus red pine 
pinus resinosa red precipitate precipitate red republican red ribbon 
red sanders sanders red sandstone sandstone red scale 
aspidiotus aurantii red silver proustite pyrargyrite red snapper 
lutjanus aya lutjanus blackfordii red snow protococcus nivalis red softening 
tetranychus telarius red mite red squirrel red tape red underwing 
catacola red water 

minium \min"ium\ ?; 277, n. l. minium, an iberian word, the
   romans getting all their cinnabar from spain; cf. basque
   armine'a. chem.
   a heavy, brilliant red pigment, consisting of an oxide of
   lead, pb3o4, obtained by exposing lead or massicot to a
   gentle and continued heat in the air. it is used as a cement,
   as a paint, and in the manufacture of flint glass. called
   also red lead, lead tetroxide, lead orthoplumbate,
   mineral orange, mineral red, paris red, saturn red,
   and less definitively, lead oxide.
   1913 webster
see also:
pb3o4 red lead lead tetroxide lead orthoplumbate mineral orange mineral red 
paris red saturn red lead oxide 

red lead
     n : a reddish oxide of lead pb3o4 used as a pigment in paints
         and in glass and ceramics syn: minium
see also:
minium