What is "white lead"

Lead \Lead\ (l[e^]d), n. [OE. led, leed, lead, AS. le['a]d; akin to D. lood, MHG. l[=o]t, G. loth plummet, sounding lead, small weight, Sw. & Dan. lod. [root]123.]

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 327.5[deg] C), forms alloys with other metals, and is an ingredient of solder and type metal. Atomic number 8

2. Atomic weight, 207.2. Symbol Pb (L. Plumbum). It is chiefly obtained from the mineral galena, lead sulphide. 2. An article made of lead or an alloy of lead; as:

   1. A plummet or mass of lead, used in sounding at sea.

   2. (Print.) A thin strip of type metal, used to separate lines of type in printing.

   3. Sheets or plates of lead used as a covering for roofs; hence, pl., a roof covered with lead sheets or terne plates.

      I would have the tower two stories, and goodly leads upon the top.
      --Bacon

3. A small cylinder of black lead or graphite, used in pencils. 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

   1. (Med.) A dark line along the gums produced by a deposit of metallic lead, due to lead poisoning.

   2. (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.

      1. (Bot.) A West Indian name for the tropical, leguminous tree, Leuc[ae]na glauca; -- probably so called from the glaucous color of the foliage.

      2. (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.

White \White\ (hw[imac]t), a. [Compar. Whiter (hw[imac]t"[~e]r); superl. Whitest.] [OE. whit, AS. hw[imac]t; akin to OFries. and OS. hw[=i]t, D. wit, G. weiss, OHG. w[=i]z, hw[=i]z, Icel. hv[=i]tr, Sw. hvit, Dan. hvid, Goth. hweits, Lith. szveisti, to make bright, Russ. sviet' light, Skr. [,c]v[=e]ta white, [,c]vit to be bright.

1. Reflecting to the eye all the rays of the spectrum combined; not tinted with any of the proper colors or their mixtures; having the color of pure snow; snowy; -- the opposite of black or dark; as, white paper; a white skin. ``Pearls white.''
   --Chaucer.

   White as the whitest lily on a stream.
   --Longfellow.

2. Destitute of color, as in the cheeks, or of the tinge of blood color; pale; pallid; as, white with fear.

   Or whispering with white lips, ``The foe! They come! they come!''
   --Byron.

3. Having the color of purity; free from spot or blemish, or from guilt or pollution; innocent; pure.

   White as thy fame, and as thy honor clear.
   --Dryden.

   No whiter page than Addison's remains.
   --Pope.

4. Gray, as from age; having silvery hair; hoary.

   Your high engendered battles 'gainst a head So old and white as this.
   --Shak.

5. Characterized by freedom from that which disturbs, and the like; fortunate; happy; favorable.

   On the whole, however, the dominie reckoned this as one of the white days of his life.
   --Sir W. Scott.

6. Regarded with especial favor; favorite; darling. Come forth, my white spouse. --Chaucer. I am his white boy, and will not be gullet. --Ford. Note: White is used in many self-explaining compounds, as white-backed, white-bearded, white-footed. White alder. (Bot.) See Sweet pepper bush, under Pepper. White ant (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of social pseudoneuropterous insects of the genus Termes. These insects are very abundant in tropical countries, and form large and complex communities consisting of numerous asexual workers of one or more kinds, of large-headed asexual individuals called soldiers, of one or more queens (or fertile females) often having the body enormously distended by the eggs, and, at certain seasons of numerous winged males, together with the larv[ae] and pup[ae] of each kind in various stages of development. Many of the species construct large and complicated nests, sometimes in the form of domelike structures rising several feet above the ground and connected with extensive subterranean galleries and chambers. In their social habits they closely resemble the true ants. They feed upon animal and vegetable substances of various kinds, including timber, and are often very destructive to buildings and furniture. White arsenic (Chem.), arsenious oxide, As2O3, a substance of a white color, and vitreous adamantine luster, having an astringent, sweetish taste. It is a deadly poison. White bass (Zo["o]l.), a fresh-water North American bass ( Roccus chrysops) found in the Great Likes. White bear (Zo["o]l.), the polar bear. See under Polar. White blood cell. (Physiol.) See Leucocyte. White brand (Zo["o]l.), the snow goose. White brass, a white alloy of copper; white copper. White campion. (Bot.) (a) A kind of catchfly ( Silene stellata) with white flowers. (b) A white-flowered Lychnis ( Lychnis vespertina). White canon (R. C. Ch.), a Premonstratensian. White caps, the members of a secret organization in various of the United States, who attempt to drive away or reform obnoxious persons by lynch-law methods. They appear masked in white. Their actions resembled those of the Ku Klux Klan in some ways but they were not formally affiliated with the Klan, and their victims were often not black. White cedar (Bot.), an evergreen tree of North America ( Thuja occidentalis), also the related Cupressus thyoides, or Cham[ae]cyparis sph[ae]roidea, a slender evergreen conifer which grows in the so-called cedar swamps of the Northern and Atlantic States. Both are much valued for their durable timber. In California the name is given to the Libocedrus decurrens, the timber of which is also useful, though often subject to dry rot. --Goodale. The white cedar of Demerara, Guiana, etc., is a lofty tree ( Icica altissima syn. Bursera altissima) whose fragrant wood is used for canoes and cabinetwork, as it is not attacked by insect. White cell. (Physiol.) See Leucocyte. White cell-blood (Med.), leucocyth[ae]mia. White clover (Bot.), a species of small perennial clover bearing white flowers. It furnishes excellent food for cattle and horses, as well as for the honeybee. See also under Clover. White copper, a whitish alloy of copper. See German silver, under German. White copperas (Min.), a native hydrous sulphate of iron; coquimbite. White coral (Zo["o]l.), an ornamental branched coral ( Amphihelia oculata) native of the Mediterranean. White corpuscle. (Physiol.) See Leucocyte. White cricket (Zo["o]l.), the tree cricket. White crop, a crop of grain which loses its green color, or becomes white, in ripening, as wheat, rye, barley, and oats, as distinguished from a green crop, or a root crop. White currant (Bot.), a variety of the common red currant, having white berries. White daisy (Bot.), the oxeye daisy. See under Daisy. White damp, a kind of poisonous gas encountered in coal mines. --Raymond. White elephant (Zo["o]l.), (a) a whitish, or albino, variety of the Asiatic elephant. (b) see white elephant in the vocabulary. White elm (Bot.), a majestic tree of North America ( Ulmus Americana), the timber of which is much used for hubs of wheels, and for other purposes. White ensign. See Saint George's ensign, under Saint. White feather, a mark or symbol of cowardice. See To show the white feather, under Feather, n. White fir (Bot.), a name given to several coniferous trees of the Pacific States, as Abies grandis, and Abies concolor. White flesher (Zo["o]l.), the ruffed grouse. See under Ruffed. [Canada] White frost. See Hoarfrost. White game (Zo["o]l.), the white ptarmigan. White garnet (Min.), leucite. White grass (Bot.), an American grass ( Leersia Virginica) with greenish-white pale[ae]. White grouse. (Zo["o]l.) (a) The white ptarmigan. (b) The prairie chicken. [Local, U. S.] White grub (Zo["o]l.), the larva of the June bug and other allied species. These grubs eat the roots of grasses and other plants, and often do much damage. White hake (Zo["o]l.), the squirrel hake. See under Squirrel. White hawk, or White kite (Zo["o]l.), the hen harrier. White heat, the temperature at which bodies become incandescent, and appear white from the bright light which they emit. White hellebore (Bot.), a plant of the genus Veratrum ( Veratrum album) See Hellebore, 2. White herring, a fresh, or unsmoked, herring, as distinguished from a red, or cured, herring. [R.] --Shak. White hoolet (Zo["o]l.), the barn owl. [Prov. Eng.] White horses (Naut.), white-topped waves; whitecaps. The White House. See under House. White ibis (Zo["o]l.), an American ibis ( Guara alba) having the plumage pure white, except the tips of the wings, which are black. It inhabits tropical America and the Southern United States. Called also Spanish curlew. White iron. (a) Thin sheets of iron coated with tin; tinned iron. (b) A hard, silvery-white cast iron containing a large proportion of combined carbon. White iron pyrites (Min.), marcasite. White land, a tough clayey soil, of a whitish hue when dry, but blackish after rain. [Eng.] White lark (Zo["o]l.), the snow bunting. White lead. (a) A carbonate of lead much used in painting, and for other purposes; ceruse. (b) (Min.) Native lead carbonate; cerusite. White leather, buff leather; leather tanned with alum and salt. White leg (Med.), milk leg. See under Milk. White lettuce (Bot.), rattlesnake root. See under Rattlesnake. White lie. See under Lie. White light. (a) (Physics) Light having the different colors in the same proportion as in the light coming directly from the sun, without having been decomposed, as by passing through a prism. See the Note under Color, n.,

   1. (b) A kind of firework which gives a brilliant white illumination for signals, etc. White lime, a solution or preparation of lime for whitewashing; whitewash. White line (Print.), a void space of the breadth of a line, on a printed page; a blank line. White meat.

      1. Any light-colored flesh, especially of poultry.

      2. Food made from milk or eggs, as butter, cheese, etc. Driving their cattle continually with them, and feeding only upon their milk and white meats. --Spenser. White merganser (Zo["o]l.), the smew. White metal.

         1. Any one of several white alloys, as pewter, britannia, etc.

         2. (Metal.) A fine grade of copper sulphide obtained at a certain stage in copper smelting. White miller. (Zo["o]l.)

            1. The common clothes moth.

            2. A common American bombycid moth ( Spilosoma Virginica) which is pure white with a few small black spots; -- called also ermine moth, and virgin moth. See Woolly bear, under Woolly. White money, silver money. White mouse (Zo["o]l.), the albino variety of the common mouse. White mullet (Zo["o]l.), a silvery mullet ( Mugil curema) ranging from the coast of the United States to Brazil; -- called also blue-back mullet, and liza. White nun (Zo["o]l.), the smew; -- so called from the white crest and the band of black feathers on the back of its head, which give the appearance of a hood. White oak. (Bot.) See under Oak. White owl. (Zo["o]l.)

               1. The snowy owl.

               2. The barn owl. White partridge (Zo["o]l.), the white ptarmigan. White perch. (Zo["o]l.)

                  1. A North American fresh-water bass ( Morone Americana) valued as a food fish.

                  2. The croaker, or fresh-water drum.

      3. Any California surf fish. White pine. (Bot.) See the Note under Pine. White poplar (Bot.), a European tree ( Populus alba) often cultivated as a shade tree in America; abele. White poppy (Bot.), the opium-yielding poppy. See Poppy. White powder, a kind of gunpowder formerly believed to exist, and to have the power of exploding without noise. A pistol charged with white powder. --Beau. & Fl. White precipitate. (Old Chem.) See under Precipitate. White rabbit. (Zo["o]l.)

         1. The American northern hare in its winter pelage.

         2. An albino rabbit. White rent,

            1. (Eng. Law) Formerly, rent payable in silver; -- opposed to black rent. See Blackmail, n., 3.

            2. A rent, or duty, of eight pence, payable yearly by every tinner in Devon and Cornwall to the Duke of Cornwall, as lord of the soil. [Prov. Eng.] White rhinoceros. (Zo["o]l.)

               1. The one-horned, or Indian, rhinoceros ( Rhinoceros Indicus). See Rhinoceros.

               2. The umhofo. White ribbon, the distinctive badge of certain organizations for the promotion of temperance or of moral purity; as, the White-ribbon Army. White rope (Naut.), untarred hemp rope. White rot. (Bot.)

                  1. Either of several plants, as marsh pennywort and butterwort, which were thought to produce the disease called rot in sheep.

                  2. A disease of grapes. See White rot, under Rot.

                     White sage (Bot.), a white, woolly undershrub ( Eurotia lanata) of Western North America; -- called also winter fat.

                     White salmon (Zo["o]l.), the silver salmon.

                     White salt, salt dried and calcined; decrepitated salt.

                     White scale (Zo["o]l.), a scale insect ( Aspidiotus Nerii) injurious to the orange tree. See Orange scale, under Orange.

                     White shark (Zo["o]l.), a species of man-eating shark. See under Shark.

                     White softening. (Med.) See Softening of the brain, under Softening.

                     White spruce. (Bot.) See Spruce, n., 1.

                     White squall (Naut.), a sudden gust of wind, or furious blow, which comes up without being marked in its approach otherwise than by whitecaps, or white, broken water, on the surface of the sea.

                     White staff, the badge of the lord high treasurer of England.
                     --Macaulay.

                     White stork (Zo["o]l.), the common European stork.

                     White sturgeon. (Zo["o]l.) See Shovelnose

      4. . White sucker. (Zo["o]l.)

         1. The common sucker.

         2. The common red horse ( Moxostoma macrolepidotum). White swelling (Med.), a chronic swelling of the knee, produced by a strumous inflammation of the synovial membranes of the kneejoint and of the cancellar texture of the end of the bone forming the kneejoint; -- applied also to a lingering chronic swelling of almost any kind. White tombac. See Tombac. White trout (Zo["o]l.), the white weakfish, or silver squeteague ( Cynoscion nothus), of the Southern United States. White vitriol (Chem.), hydrous sulphate of zinc. See White vitriol, under Vitriol. White wagtail (Zo["o]l.), the common, or pied, wagtail. White wax, beeswax rendered white by bleaching. White whale (Zo["o]l.), the beluga. White widgeon (Zo["o]l.), the smew. White wine. any wine of a clear, transparent color, bordering on white, as Madeira, sherry, Lisbon, etc.; -- distinguished from wines of a deep red color, as port and Burgundy. ``White wine of Lepe.'' --Chaucer. White witch, a witch or wizard whose supernatural powers are supposed to be exercised for good and beneficent purposes. --Addison. --Cotton Mather. White wolf. (Zo["o]l.)

            1. A light-colored wolf ( Canis laniger) native of Thibet; -- called also chanco, golden wolf, and Thibetan wolf.

            2. The albino variety of the gray wolf.

               White wren (Zo["o]l.), the willow warbler; -- so called from the color of the under parts.

n. A basic lead carbonate once used in paint

n. a poisonous lead-containing white pigment [syn: lead carbonate]

White lead is the basic lead carbonate (2PbCO·Pb(OH)). It is a complex salt, containing both carbonate and hydroxide ions. White lead occurs naturally as a mineral, in which context it is known as hydrocerussite, a hydrate of cerussite. It was formerly used as an ingredient for lead paint and a cosmetic called Venetian Ceruse, because of its opacity and the satiny smooth mixture it made with dryable oils. However, it tended to cause lead poisoning, and its use has been banned in most countries.

White lead compounds were also used as lubricants for bearings and in machine shops, especially between work being turned in a lathe and a dead center.