red lead

noun

: an orange-red to brick-red lead oxide Pb₃O₄ used in storage-battery plates, in glass and ceramics, and as a paint pigment

Examples of red lead in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The study found that even seemingly pure pigments were mixtures, with Egyptian blue and red lead being fundamental. —Stories By Real-Time News Team, With Ai Summarization, Miami Herald, 21 Mar. 2025

The Democratic Party hopes voters are fired up enough to get to the polls and take away that red lead. —Alexandria Sands, Axios, 25 Oct. 2024

The authors note that since the Middle Ages, red lead in oil has been used to preserve stone, wood, and metal against humidity, and one contemporary source mentions using lead-rich oil instead of the typical glue to keep the canvas from separating after years of exposure in humid environments. —Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 15 Dec. 2023

These include a painting fragment by Vincent van Gogh—likely due to the degradation of a red lead pigment as a result of exposure to light—and in the thick lead white impasto used by Rembrandt in several of his paintings, most notably The Night Watch. —Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 25 Oct. 2023

The solid was lead carbonate — confirming that the red lead ore did in fact contain lead. —Stephanie Demarco, Discover Magazine, 18 May 2021

As the 18th century drew to a close, French chemist Louis Nicolas Vauquelin was puzzling over a piece of red lead ore from Siberia. —Stephanie Demarco, Discover Magazine, 18 May 2021

The book’s original illustrators, based in Angers, used red lead paint, while the artists in Nantes who painted over the portrait used vermillion red for Isabella’s gown and coats of arms. —Livia Gershon, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 May 2021

Isabella's coat of arms was added to the floral borders, using the same vermilion red as her gown, which the analysis distinguished from the red lead paint of the original. —Maev Kennedy, CNN, 19 May 2021

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for red lead

• abed
• ahead
• beachhead
• bedspread
• bedstead
• behead
• blackhead
• blockhead
• bloodshed
• bowhead
• breastfed
• bridgehead

Kids Definition

red lead

noun

: an orange-red to brick-red oxide of lead used in storage-battery plates, in glass, and in paint