See Also: Herbal medicine (botanical medicine, herbology, phytomedicine)(health)
Lead (Or Lead Pad) - Horse Racing(gambling)
Medicine Lodge Memorial Hospital- Medicine Lodge(health)
Orthomolecular medicine (orthomolecular nutritional medicine, orthomolecular therapy)(health)
CB lead(medicine)
lead-up(dictionary)
lead-up(dictionary)
V lead(medicine)
CF lead(medicine)
CL lead(medicine)

homeorrhesis (medicine) and lead(1) (iou)


homeorrhesis (medicine)


homeorrhesis


The set of processes by which imbalances and Other defects in ontogeny are corrected before development is completed.

Synonym: ontogenic homeostasis, waddingtonian homeostasis.

Origin: homeo-+ G. Rheos, stream, current


lead(1) (iou)



lead noun1 & adjective.
[Old English lead = Old Frisian lad, Middle Low German lod (Dutch lood) lead, Middle High German lot (German Lot) plummet, solder, from West Germanic.]
A. noun.
A soft, heavy, malleable, bluish-grey metal that is a chemical element, atomic no. 82, occurring in galena and Other minerals. (Symbol Pb.) OE.
milled lead, pig-lead, pot-lead, sheet lead, etc.
Shakespeare Macbeth A heavy summons lies like lead upon me. Coleridge The ship went down like lead.
a. A large pot, cauldron, or kettle, a large open vessel used in brewing and various Other operations, (orig., one made of lead). Now dial. OE.
b. A lead milk-pan. dial. M18.
The metal made into an object, e.g. a seal, the plummet of a plumb-line, a pipe, a lead coffin. Now esp. (more fully cold lead) bullets. ME.
Nautical. A lump of lead suspended on a line to discover the depth of water; a sounding-lead. ME.
a. In pl. The sheets or strips of lead used to cover a roof; a lead roof. ME.
b. A strip of lead between panes in lattice or stained-glass windows, a came. Usu. in pl. E18.
Graphite, used as a material for pencils; a thin stick of graphite within a pencil, or for filling a propelling pencil. Cf. blacklead s.v. BLACK adjective. E19.
Typography. A thin strip, usu. of type-metal, less than type-high, of varying thickness and length, used to separate lines of type. E19.
Phrases etc.: arm the lead: see ARM verb1. as heavy as lead very heavy. blacklead: see BLACK adjective. cast the lead lower a sounding-lead from a ship. cold lead: see sense 3 above. lead in one's pencil slang (esp. male sexual) vigour. mock lead: see MOCK adjective. potter's lead: see POTTER noun1. red lead: see RED adjective. sugar of lead: see SUGAR noun & adjective. swing the lead slang idle, shirk; malinger. take the lead out of one's pants slang hurry up, act promptly. TETRAETHYL lead. white lead: see WHITE adjective.
b. attrib. or as adjective. Made (wholly or partly) of lead, consisting of lead. LME.
Special collocations & comb.: lead-acid adjective designating a secondary cell or battery in which the anode and cathode are plates or grids of lead (or lead alloy) coated with lead dioxide and spongy lead respectively, both immersed in dilute sulphuric acid. lead-ash, lead-ashes litharge. lead-back US the dunlin. lead balloon a failure, an unsuccessful venture. lead bronze: containing lead, used in bearings. lead bullion a mixture of lead and Other heavy metals formed during the extraction of lead. lead-burn verb trans. weld (pieces of lead). lead-burning the welding of lead. lead cell a lead-acid cell. lead chamber a large vessel made of welded sheet lead, used in the manufacture of sulphuric acid from sulphur dioxide, air, and steam using oxides of nitrogen as catalysts. lead comb: made of lead, used to darken the hair. lead crystal = lead glass below. lead flat a flat roof made of sheet lead laid across joists and boarding. lead glance galena. lead glass glass containing a substantial proportion of lead oxide, making it more refractive. lead glaze Pottery: containing lead oxide. lead light a window in which small panes are fixed in lead calms, a leaded light. lead-line (a) a sounding-lead, a plumb-line; (b) a line loaded with lead weights, running along the bottom of a net; (c) Medicine a bluish-grey line along the gums at their junction with the teeth, indicating lead-poisoning; (d) a narrow strip of lead between two pieces of stained glass; a calm. lead-line verb trans. put lead-lines in (stained-glass work). leadman (a) a dealer in lead; (b) a lead-miner. lead-mill (a) a factory for producing milled or sheet lead; (b) a lead plate used for grinding gemstones. lead-nail: used to fasten a sheet of lead on a roof (usu. in pl.). lead ochre = MASSICOT. lead-paper a test-paper treated with a preparation of lead. lead-papered adjective covered with or containing lead-paper. lead pencil: of graphite, often enclosed in cedar or Other wood. lead-pipe cinch US colloq. a complete certainty. lead-plant US a leguminous shrub, Amorpha canescens, formerly believed to indicate the presence of lead ore. lead-plaster = DIACHYLON. lead-poisoning acute or chronic poisoning by the absorption of lead into the body. lead ratio the ratio of the quantity of lead in a rock sample to that of its radioactive parents uranium and thorium, from which the age of the sample may be determined. lead shot: see SHOT noun1. lead-spar = CERUSSITE. lead-swing verb intrans. (slang) = swing the lead above. lead-swinger slang a shirker, a malingerer. lead TETRAETHYL. lead-tin noun & adjective (an alloy) containing lead and tin. lead-tree (a) a tropical leguminous tree, Leucaena latisiliqua; (b) a dendritic crystalline deposit of metallic lead or zinc in lead acetate solution. lead-vitriol = ANGLESITE. lead-wash, lead-water Medicine a dilute solution of lead acetate. lead wool lead in a fibrous state, used for caulking pipe joints. leadwort (a) any of various mainly tropical perennial herbs and shrubs of the genus Plumbago, with tubular calyx and five-lobed corolla, esp. P. europaea of southern Europe; (b) any member of the family Plumbaginaceae, which includes this genus and also the thrifts and sea-lavenders.