Lead vs Copper - What's the difference?

As nouns the difference between lead and copper

is that lead is (uncountable) a heavy, pliable, inelastic metal element, having a bright, bluish color, but easily tarnished; both malleable and ductile, though with little tenacity it is easily fusible, forms alloys with other metals, and is an ingredient of solder and type metal atomic number 82, symbol pb (from latin plumbum ) or lead can be (uncountable) the act of leading or conducting; guidance; direction, course; as, to take the lead; to be under the lead of another while copper is (lb) a reddish-brown, malleable, ductile metallic element with high electrical and thermal conductivity, symbol cu, and atomic number 29 or copper can be (slang|law enforcement) a police officer.

As verbs the difference between lead and copper

is that lead is to cover, fill, or affect with lead; as, continuous firing leads the grooves of a rifle or lead can be to or lead can be while copper is to sheathe or coat with copper.

As adjectives the difference between lead and copper

is that lead is (not comparable) foremost while copper is made of copper.

lead

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) leed, from (etyl) . Alternative etymology suggests the possibility that Proto-Germanic *laud?'' may derive from (etyl) . More at (l).

Noun

(uncountable) A heavy, pliable, inelastic metal element, having a bright, bluish color, but easily tarnished; both malleable and ductile, though with little tenacity. It is easily fusible, forms alloys with other metals, and is an ingredient of solder and type metal. Atomic number 82, symbol Pb (from Latin plumbum ).

(countable) A plummet or mass of lead attached to a line, used in sounding depth at sea or (dated) to estimate velocity in knots.

A thin strip of type metal, used to separate lines of type in printing.

(uncountable, typography) Vertical space in advance of a row or between rows of text. Also known as leading .

This copy has too much lead; I prefer less space between the lines.

Sheets or plates of lead used as a covering for roofs.

A roof covered with lead sheets or terne plates.

:* I would have the tower two stories, and goodly leads upon the top. —

(countable) A thin cylinder of black lead or plumbago (graphite) used in pencils.

(slang) Bullets; ammunition.

They pumped him full of lead .

Derived terms

* arm the lead * acetate of lead * black lead * blue lead * cast the lead, heave the lead * chromate of lead * coasting lead * cold lead * deep-sea lead * eka-lead * go down like a lead balloon * hand lead * lap in lead * lay in lead * lead accumulator * lead acetate * lead-acid battery * lead-arming * lead arsenate * lead-ash, lead-ashes * lead-back * lead balloon * lead-bath * lead-blue * lead bronze * lead-brown * lead bullion * lead-burn * lead burning * lead carbonate * lead cell * lead chamber * lead chloride * lead colic * lead color, lead colour * lead-colored, lead-coloured * lead-comb * lead crystal * lead dichloride * lead dinitrate * lead dioxide * lead distemper * lead-eater * leaded * lead encephalopathy * lead-flat * lead-foot * lead-free * lead glance * lead glass * lead-glaze * lead-gray, lead-grey * lead hydrogen arsenate * lead in one's pencil * lead iodide * lead-light * lead-like * lead line * lead-man * lead-marcasite * lead mill * lead-nail * lead nitrate * lead ocher, lead ochre * lead oxide * lead paint * lead palsy * lead-paper * lead-papered * lead paralysis * lead pencil * lead plant * lead-plaster * lead peroxide * lead-pot * lead-poisoning * lead ratio * lead-reeve * lead selenide * lead-sinker * leadsman * lead-soap * lead-spar * lead-sugar * lead sulfide, lead sulphide * lead-swing * lead-swinger * lead-swinging * lead tetraethyl * lead tetroxide * lead-tin * lead-tree * lead vanadate * lead-vitriol * lead-wash * lead-water * lead wool * lead-work * lead-works * lead-wort * mock lead * pencil lead * red lead * red lead ore * sugar of lead * swing the lead * telluride of lead * tetraethyl lead * thorium lead * throw the lead * unleaded * uranium lead * uranium-lead dating * white lead

Verb

(en verb)
To cover, fill, or affect with lead; as, continuous firing leads the grooves of a rifle.

(printing) To place leads between the lines of; as, to lead a page; leaded matter.

Usage notes

Note carefully these two senses are verbs derived from the noun referring to the metallic element, and are unrelated to the heteronym defined below under .

External links

* (wikipedia "lead")

Etymology 2

(Lead off) From (etyl) leden, from (etyl) .

Verb

To .

#To guide or conduct with the hand, or by means of some physical contact connection.

#:

#*(John Wycliffe) on

#*:If a blind man lead a blind man, both fall down in the ditch.

#*

#*:They thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill.

#*(John Milton) (1608-1674)

#*:In thy right hand lead with thee / The mountain nymph, sweet Liberty.

#To guide or conduct in a certain course, or to a certain place or end, by making the way known; to show the way, especially by going with or going in advance of, to lead a pupil; to guide somebody somewhere or to bring somebody somewhere by means of.instructions. Hence, figuratively: To direct; to counsel; to instruct; as, to lead a traveler.

#*

#*:The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way.

#*

#*:He leadeth me beside the still waters.

#*(John Milton) (1608-1674)

#*:This thought might lead me through the world’s vain mask. Content, though blind, had I no better guide.

#*, chapter=1
, title= Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.}}
#To conduct or direct with authority; to have direction or charge of; as, to lead an army, an exploring party, or a search; to lead a political party; to command, especially a military or business unit.

#*(Robert South) (1634–1716)

#*:Christ took not upon him flesh and blood that he might conquer and rule nations, lead armies, or possess places.

#To guide or conduct oneself in, through, or along (a certain course); hence, to proceed in the way of; to follow the path or course of; to pass; to spend. Also, to cause (one) to proceed or follow in (a certain course).

#:

#*

#*:That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life.

#*1849 , (Alfred Tennyson),

#*:Nor thou with shadow'd hint confuse / A life that leads melodious days.

#*1849-50 , (Charles Dickens), ''(David Copperfield), Chapter 61

#*:You rememberthe life he used to lead his wife and daughter.

(label) To guide or conduct, as by accompanying, going before, showing, influencing, directing with authority, etc.; to have precedence or preeminence; to be first or chief; — used in most of the senses of the transitive verb.

(label) To begin, to be ahead.

#(label) To go or to be in advance of; to precede; hence, to be foremost or chief among.

#:

#*1600 , (Edward Fairfax), The (Jerusalem Delivered) of (w)

#*:As Hesperus, that leads the sun his way.

#*(Leigh Hunt) (1784-1859)

#*:And lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest.

#*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=“Well,” I answered, at first with uncertainty, then with inspiration, “he would do splendidly to lead your cotillon, if you think of having one.” ¶ “So you do not dance, Mr. Crocker?” ¶ I was somewhat set back by her perspicuity.}}
#(label) To lead off or out, to go first; to begin.

#(label) To be more advanced in technology or business than others.

#

## To begin a game, round, or trick, with; as, to lead trumps.

##:

##(label) To be ahead of others, e.g., in a race.

##(label) To have the highest interim score in a game.

##(label) To step off base and move towards the next base.

##:

##(label) To aim in front of a moving target, in order that the shot may hit the target as it passes.

(label) To draw or direct by influence, whether good or bad; to prevail on; to induce; to entice; to allure; as, to lead one to espouse a righteous cause.

*1649 , King (Charles I of England), (Eikon Basilike)

*:He was driven by the necessities of the times, more than led by his own disposition, to any rigor of actions.

* .

*:Silly women, laden with sins, led away by divers lusts.

*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-28, author=(Joris Luyendijk)
, volume=189, issue=3, page=21, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Our banks are out of control , passage=Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […]. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. When a series of bank failures made this impossible, there was widespread anger, leading to the public humiliation of symbolic figures.}}
(label) To tend or reach in a certain direction, or to a certain place.

:

*ca. 1590 , (w),

*:The mountain-foot that leads towards Mantua.

*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-10, volume=408, issue=8848, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= Can China clean up fast enough? , passage=All this has led to an explosion of protest across China, including among a middle class that has discovered nimbyism. That worries the government, which fears that environmental activism could become the foundation for more general political opposition. It is therefore dealing with pollution in two ways—suppression and mitigation.}}
To produce.

:

*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= Yesterday’s fuel , passage=The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania.

Derived terms

(terms derived from the verb "to lead") * belead * inlead * lead astray * lead captive * leader * leading * lead the way * mislead * offlead * onlead * outlead * overlead * take the lead * underlead

Noun

(uncountable) The act of leading or conducting; guidance; direction, course; as, to take the lead; to be under the lead of another.

:* At the time I speak of, and having a momentary lead , . . . I am sure I did my country important service. — (Edmund Burke)

(uncountable) Precedence; advance position; also, the measure of precedence; as, the white horse had the lead; a lead of a boat’s length, or of half a second; the state of being ahead in a race; the highest score in a game in an incomplete game.

* {{quote-news
, year=2010 , date=December 28 , author=Kevin Darlin , title=West Brom 1 - 3 Blackburn , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=Blackburn then regained the lead with a simplest of set-piece goals}}
(countable) a metallic wire for electrical devices and equipments

(baseball) When a runner steps away from a base while waiting for the pitch to be thrown

The runner took his lead from first.

(uncountable, card games, dominoes) The act or right of playing first in a game or round; the card suit, or piece, so played; as, your partner has the lead.

(countable) A channel of open water in an ice field.

(countable, mining) A lode.

(nautical) The course of a rope from end to end.

A rope, leather strap, or similar device with which to lead an animal; a leash

In a steam engine, The width of port opening which is uncovered by the valve, for the admission or release of steam, at the instant when the piston is at end of its stroke.

* Usage note : When used alone it means outside lead, or lead for the admission of steam. Inside lead refers to the release or exhaust.

charging lead

(civil engineering) The distance of haul, as from a cutting to an embankment.

(horology) The action of a tooth, as a tooth of a wheel, in impelling another tooth or a pallet. — Claudias Saunier

Hypothesis that has not been pursued

The investigation stalled when all leads turned out to be dead ends.

Information obtained by a detective or police officer that allows him or her to discover further details about a crime or incident.

(marketing) Potential opportunity for a sale or transaction, a potential customer.

Joe is a great addition to our sales team, he has numerous leads in the paper industry.

Information obtained by a news reporter about an issue or subject that allows him or her to discover more details.

(curling) The player who throws the first two rocks for a team.

(newspapers) A teaser; a lead in; the start of a newspaper column, telling who, what, when, where, why and how. (Sometimes spelled as lede for this usage to avoid ambiguity.)

An important news story that appears on the front page of a newspaper or at the beginning of a news broadcast

(engineering) The axial distance a screw thread travels in one revolution. It is equal to the pitch times the number of starts.

(music) In a barbershop quartet, the person who sings the melody, usually the second tenor

Usage notes

Note that these noun (attributive) uses are all derived from the verb, not the chemical element in .

Derived terms

(terms derived from the noun "lead") * bury the lead * lead angle * lead in * lead role * lead screw * take the lead

Adjective

(-)
(not comparable) Foremost.

The contestants are all tied; no one has the lead position.

Synonyms

* (foremost) first, front, head, leader, leading

Etymology 3

Verb

(head)

References

Statistics

Anagrams

* * * * * English heteronyms English irregular verbs English terms with multiple etymologies 1000 English basic words ----

copper
English
(wikipedia copper)
Etymology 1
From (etyl) coper, from (etyl) coper, .
Noun

(lb) a reddish-brown, malleable, ductile metallic element with high electrical and thermal conductivity, symbol Cu, and atomic number 29.

(lb) Something made of copper.

The reddish-brown colour/color of copper.

:

(lb) A copper coin.

*(Benjamin Franklin) (1706-1790)

*:My friends filled my pockets with coppers .

*

*:"I don't want to spoil any comparison you are going to make," said Jim, "but I was at Winchester and New College." ¶ "That will do," said Mackenzie. "I was dragged up at the workhouse school till I was twelve. Then I ran away and sold papers in the streets, and anything else that I could pick up a few coppers by—except steal.."

A large pot, often used for heating water or washing clothes over a fire. In Australasia at least, it could also be a fixed installation made of copper, with a fire underneath and its own chimney. Generally made redundant by the advent of the washing machine.

:

:

*1797 , Dyeing'', article in Colin Macfarquhar, George Gleig (editors), ''Encyclopædia Britannica: or, A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature , Volume 6, Part 1 p.207:

*:When the water in the copper boils, the arsenic and tartar, well pounded, is put into it, and kept boiling till the liquor is reduced to about half.

Synonyms
* (colour) chestnut, russet
Derived terms
* antimonial copper * arsenical copper * barium copper oxide * black copper * black copper ore * blister copper, blistered copper * blanched copper * blue copper * Bungtown copper * Chessy copper * chromated copper arsenate * clear one's coppers * cool one's coppers * copper acetate * copper age * copper arsenate * copper-arsenide * copper-arsenite * copper-beech * copper-bellied snake * copper-belly * Copper Belt * copperbelt * copper belt * copper-bit * copper-blende * copper-bloom * copper-bottom * copper-bottomed * copper-bound * copper-butterfly * copper-cap * copper-captain * copper carbonate * copper chloride * copper-colic * copper-colored * copper-coloured * copper-cut * copper dichloride * coppered * copper-emerald * copperer * Copper Eskimo * copper-faced * copper-fasten * copper-fastened * copper-finch * copper-foil * copper-glance * copper-green * copperhead * copper-head * copper-headed * copper-hells * copper-hops * copper-Indian * coppering * copper-iron * copperise * copperize * copperish * copper-knob * copper loss * copper-man * copper-manganese * copper-mica * copper-nickel * copper nitrate * coppernob * copper-nose * copper ore * copper oxide * copper phosphide * copper-place * copperplate * copper-powder * copper pyrites * copper-rain * copper schist * copperskin * copper-skinned * copper-slate * coppersmith * copper-smoke * copper-snake * copper-spot * copper sulfate * copper sulphate * copper sulfide * copper sulphide * copper-top * copper-topped * copper uranite * copper-vitriol * copperware * copper-wing * copper-work * copper-works * coppery * copper-zinc * disulfide of copper * disulphide of copper * dry copper * emerald copper * emerald copper ore * enamelers' copper * enamellers' copper * gold-copper ore * grey copper * grey copper ore * hot coppers * indigo copper * japan copper * large copper * manganese copper * octahedral copper * octahedral copper ore * phosphor copper * purple copper * purple copper ore * pyritous copper * red copper * scarce copper * silver-copper nitrate * sulfate of copper * sulphate of copper * variegated copper * variegated copper ore * velvet copper * velvet copper ore * white copper * yellow copper * yellow copper ore
Related terms
* BSCCO * copperas * cupr-, cupro- * cuprane * cuprate * cuprea bark * cupreous * cupric * cupriferous * cuprite * cuproid * cuproso- * cuprous * YBCO
Adjective
(en adjective)
Made of copper.

Having the reddish-brown colour/color of copper.

* Coleridge

All in a hot and copper sky,

The bloody Sun, at noon,

Right up above the mast did stand,

No bigger than the Moon.

Synonyms
* (made of copper) * (having the colour/color of copper ): coppery
Verb
(en verb)
To sheathe or coat with copper.

See also
* anna * azurite * bell metal * bluestone * blue vitriol * Bordeaux mixture * bornite * brass * bronze * Caboclo * chalcid * chalcanthite * chalcocite * chalcopyrite * chalcosis * chessylite * chrysocolla * covellite * ferrous sulphate * kipper * lentigohepatic degeneration * malachite * Monel * olivenite * ormolu * patina * peacock ore * soldo * speculum metal * tombac * verd antique * verdigris * * Wilson's disease *
Etymology 2
From
Noun
(en noun)
(slang, law enforcement) A police officer.

Synonyms
* (policeman) police officer, constable, cop, see also
Related terms
* cop