black lead

American

[led] / lɛd /

noun

Mineralogy.

graphite; plumbago.

black lead British

/ lɛd /

noun

another name for graphite

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of black lead

First recorded in 1575–85

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.

See Examples For:

black lead

Even The Bachelor has named its first black lead.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 26, 2020

Former "Bachelorette" Rachel Lindsay, the only black lead the show has had, also spoke out.

From Fox News ● May 18, 2020

But we do, finally, have a black lead.

From Slate ● Oct. 31, 2019

The Times caught up with Dillard and Clemons to discuss shooting horror on the beach, centering a black lead in a survival story and what it’s like to carry a movie with limited dialogue.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2019

Vauquelin takes it to be a carbonaceous matter, such as plumbagine or black lead.

From Museum of Antiquity A Description of Ancient Life by T. L. (Thomas Louis) Haines

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023