lead poisoning
Americannoun
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Pathology.
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a toxic condition produced by ingestion, inhalation, or skin absorption of lead or lead compounds, resulting in various dose-related symptoms including anemia, nausea, muscle weakness, confusion, blindness, and coma.
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Also called plumbism, saturnism. this condition occurring in adults whose work involves contact with lead products.
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Slang. death or injury inflicted by a bullet or shot.
noun
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Also called: plumbism. saturnism. acute or chronic poisoning by lead or its salts, characterized by abdominal pain, vomiting, convulsions, and coma
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slang death or injury resulting from being shot with bullets
Etymology
Origin of lead poisoning
First recorded in 1875–80
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
On top of that, 460 tons of melted lead had poured over the site and the surrounding streets, creating a serious danger of lead poisoning.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 3, 2025
Dozens of provincial officials and hospital staff attempted to cover up a lead poisoning case that made hundreds of children sick in north-west China and sparked widespread outrage, an official investigation has found.
From BBC • Jul. 22, 2025
RFK Jr. waffles on cuts to lead poisoning prevention efforts; Evan Casey for Wisconsin Public Radio: Lead poisoning in Milwaukee Public Schools: What to know and how to keep your kids safe.
From Slate • May 22, 2025
Unfortunately, this puts them at an elevated risk of lead poisoning should they scavenge on an animal killed with lead ammunition.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 14, 2025
Absurdly, he was excluded from a 1971 National Research Council panel appointed to investigate the dangers of atmospheric lead poisoning even though he was by now unquestionably the leading expert on atmospheric lead.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
