lead arsenate

American  

[led] / lɛd /

noun

Chemistry.

1. a white, crystalline, water-insoluble, highly poisonous powder, PbHAsO 4 , used as an insecticide.

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lead arsenate British  

/ lɛd /

noun

1. a white insoluble toxic crystalline powder used as an insecticide and fungicide. Formula: Pb 3 (AsO 4 ) 2

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Etymology

Origin of lead arsenate

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lead arsenate

In 1988, he warned against eating Florida grapefruits because they had been sprayed with lead arsenate to speed ripening.

From New York Times ● Dec. 17, 2012

"I may have Alar on my apples, lead arsenate on my grapefruit, captan on my vegetables," says Jay Feldman, national coordinator of the National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides.

From Time Magazine Archive

Another insect to learn the profitable way of resistance was the codling moth, or appleworm, in the 1920’s, although lead arsenate had been used successfully against it for some 40 years.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

It was sprayed onto fruit as a pesticide in the form of lead arsenate.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

The type of leaf is entirely different, and on the cabbage you are apt to burn them with the sodium arsenite while the lead arsenate will give you practically the same result.

From Trees, Fruits and Flowers of Minnesota, 1916 Embracing the Transactions of the Minnesota State Horticultural Society,Volume 44, from December 1, 1915, to December 1, 1916, Including the Twelve Numbers of "The Minnesota Horticulturist" for 1916 by Latham, A. W.