black lead

Meanings

nounblack lead (countable and uncountable, plural black leads)

plural black leads · alternative blacklead · alternative black-lead

countablehistoricaluncountableThe metal lead.First known use 14th c.
Antonyms: white lead
countableuncountableGraphite, especially as used in pencils.First known use 16th c.
countableA graphite pencil.
countablehistoricaluncountableA type of polish made from graphite, used for kitchen cleaning and blackening grates.First known use 19th c.
She always washed without soap: there were no hearth-stones nor black-lead dust for the stoves; nor a cake of whitening for the kitchen-grate […].
1828, JT Smith, Nollekens and His Times, Century Hutchinson, published 1986, page 271

nounThe metal lead.

Opposite

nounused as a lubricant and as a moderator in nuclear reactors

Similar

Broader

carbon Catomic number 6

Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

In the sense of lead, calque of Latin plumbum nigrum (“lead”, literally “black lead”).

More words from Latin

Cite this entry

APA

black lead. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20lead

MLA

“black lead.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20lead. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “black lead,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20lead.