1. (Symbol Pb) A soft, malleable, ductile, bluish-white, dense metallic element, extracted chiefly from galena and used in containers and pipes for corrosives, solder and type metal, bullets, radiation shielding, paints, and antiknock compounds. Atomic number 82; atomic weight 207.2; melting point 327.5°C; boiling point 1,744°C; specific gravity 11.35; valence 2, 4.
2. A lead weight suspended by a line, used to make soundings.
3. Bullets from or for firearms; shot: pumped the target full of lead.
4. leads Strips of lead used to hold the panes of a window.
5. (Abbr. ld.) Printing. A thin strip of metal used to separate lines of type.
6. leads Chiefly British. A flat roof covered with sheets of lead.
7. 1. Any of various, often graphitic compositions used as the writing substance in pencils.
   2. A thin stick of such material.

1. To cover, line, weight, or fill with lead.
2. Printing. To provide space between (lines of type) with leads.
3. To secure (window glass) with leads.
4. To treat with lead or a lead compound: leaded gasoline; leaded paint.

get the lead out Informal.

1. To start moving or move more rapidly.

[Middle English led, from Old English lēad, probably of Celtic origin.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.