sb. [LEAD sb.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 sb.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. Nelson & Kemp, Pract. Boat Bldg., I. 55. A plece of Stockholm tarred or white-leaded paper.
