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lead line

[led]
noun Nautical.
  1. a line by which a lead is lowered into the water to take soundings: in deep-sea practice, divided into levels one fathom apart, variously treated as marks and deeps.
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Origin of lead line

First recorded in 1475–85
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for lead line

Historical Examples of lead line

  • Sez Counahan: 'Either the lead-line's tuk too stretchin' or else the Bank's sunk.'

    "Captains Courageous"

    Rudyard Kipling

  • The gulf has become a lake, but it is also an abyss, and no lead-line has yet sounded its depths.

  • Green had a lead-line on board; it was let fall over the side, but no bottom was found.

    The Three Commanders

    W.H.G. Kingston

  • The lead-line betokened fifty fathoms where the frigate had cast anchor.

    The Three Lieutenants

    W.H.G. Kingston

  • Gardiner sprang to the lead-line to see the effect on his own vessel.

    The Sea Lions

    James Fenimore Cooper

British Dictionary definitions for lead line

lead line

noun
  1. nautical a length of line for swinging a lead, marked at various points to indicate multiples of fathoms
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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
lead line in Medicine

lead line

(lĕd)
n.
  1. An irregular dark deposit in the gums occurring in lead poisoning.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.