catflap.org Online Dictionary Query

  Lead \Lead\, n.
     1. The act of leading or conducting; guidance; direction; as,
        to take the lead; to be under the lead of another.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              At the time I speak of, and having a momentary lead,
              . . . I am sure I did my country important service.
                                                    --Burke.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Precedence; advance position; also, the measure of
        precedence; as, the white horse had the lead; a lead of a
        boat's length, or of half a second.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Cards & Dominoes) The act or right of playing first in a
        game or round; the card suit, or piece, so played; as,
        your partner has the lead.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. An open way in an ice field. --Kane.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. (Mining) A lode.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     6. (Naut.) The course of a rope from end to end.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     7. (Steam Engine) The width of port opening which is
        uncovered by the valve, for the admission or release of
        steam, at the instant when the piston is at end of its
        stroke.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: When used alone it means outside lead, or lead for the
           admission of steam. Inside lead refers to the release
           or exhaust.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     8. (Civil Engineering) the distance of haul, as from a
        cutting to an embankment.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     9. (Horology) The action of a tooth, as a tooth of a wheel,
        in impelling another tooth or a pallet. --Saunier.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     10. (Music.)
         (a) The announcement by one voice part of a theme to be
             repeated by the other parts.
         (b) A mark or a short passage in one voice part, as of a
             canon, serving as a cue for the entrance of others.
             [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  
     11. In an internal-combustion engine, the distance, measured
         in actual length of piston stroke or the corresponding
         angular displacement of the crank, of the piston from the
         end of the compression stroke when ignition takes place;
         -- called in full
  
     lead of the ignition. When ignition takes place during the
        working stroke the corresponding distance from the
        commencement of the stroke is called
  
     negative lead.
        [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  
     12. (Mach.) The excess above a right angle in the angle
         between two consecutive cranks, as of a compound engine,
         on the same shaft.
         [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  
     13. (Mach.) In spiral screw threads, worm wheels, or the
         like, the amount of advance of any point in the spiral
         for a complete turn.
         [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  
     14. (Elec.)
         (a) The angle between the line joining the brushes of a
             continuous-current dynamo and the diameter
             symmetrical between the poles.
         (b) The advance of the current phase in an alternating
             circuit beyond that of the electromotive force
             producing it.
             [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  
     15. (Theat.) A role for a leading man or leading woman; also,
         one who plays such a role.
         [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  
     16. The first story in a newspaper or broadcast news program.
         [PJC]
  
     17. an electrical conductor, typically as an insulated wire
         or cable, connecting an electrical device to another
         device or to a power source, such as a conductor
         conveying electricity from a dynamo.
         [PJC]
  
     18. (Baseball) the distance a runner on base advances from
         one base toward the next before the pitch; as, the long
         lead he usually takes tends to distract the pitchers.
         [PJC]
  
     Lead angle (Steam Engine), the angle which the crank maker
        with the line of centers, in approaching it, at the
        instant when the valve opens to admit steam.
  
     Lead screw (Mach.), the main longitudinal screw of a lathe,
        which gives the feed motion to the carriage.
        [1913 Webster]

  Lead \Lead\, n.
     1. (Music.)
        (a) The announcement by one voice part of a theme to be
            repeated by the other parts.
        (b) A mark or a short passage in one voice part, as of a
            canon, serving as a cue for the entrance of others.
  
     2. In an internal-combustion engine, the distance, measured
        in actual length of piston stroke or the corresponding
        angular displacement of the crank, of the piston from the
        end of the compression stroke when ignition takes place;
        -- called in full
  
     lead of the ignition. When ignition takes place during the
        working stroke the corresponding distance from the
        commencement of the stroke is called
  
     negative lead.
  
     3. (Mach.) The excess above a right angle in the angle
        between two consecutive cranks, as of a compound engine,
        on the same shaft.
  
     4. (Mach.) In spiral screw threads, worm wheels, or the like,
        the amount of advance of any point in the spiral for a
        complete turn.
  
     5. (Elec.)
        (a) A conductor conveying electricity, as from a dynamo.
        (b) The angle between the line joining the brushes of a
            continuous-current dynamo and the diameter symmetrical
            between the poles.
        (c) The advance of the current phase in an alternating
            circuit beyond that of the electromotive force
            producing it.
  
     6. (Theat.) A r[^o]le for a leading man or leading woman;
        also, one who plays such a r[^o]le.

  negative lead /nˈɛɡətˌɪv lˈiːd/
  Minuskabel