white lead, n.
[lead n.1 Cf. L. plumbum album (in class. L. = tin), OF. blanc plomb.]
A compound of lead carbonate and hydrated oxide of lead, much used as a white pigment; also called ceruse.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 525/2 Whyte led, or blanke plumbe. c 1450–1844 [see lead n.1 2]. 1634 Peacham Compl. Gent. xiii. (1906) 131 Your flesh-colour is commonly compounded of white lead, lake, and vermilion. 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Builder 410 White Lead, is the principal ingredient used in house-painting. 1827 Faraday Chem. Manip. xviii. (1842) 487 White lead ground up with oil, when spread upon slips of cloth, is very useful for making joints tight. |
b. attrib.: white lead ore, native carbonate of lead, cerussite.
| 1706 Lond. Gaz. No. 4216/4 The White Lead-House at Rotherhith. 1796 Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) II. 203 White Lead ore. 1849 Noad Electricity (ed. 3) 179 The box..is put together with white-lead joints, as these are perfectly water-tight. |
Hence white-lead v., trans. to cover or impregnate with white lead.
| 1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting i. 12 White-leaded and varnished the boat. 1881 Neison & Kemp Pract. Boat Bldg. i. 55 A piece of Stockholm tarred or white-leaded paper. |