different between spur vs lead

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /sp??/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /sp?/
• Rhymes: -??(?)

Etymology 1

From Middle English spure, spore, from Old English spura, spora, from Proto-Germanic *spurô, from Proto-Indo-European *sper-, *sperw- (“to twitch, push, fidget, be quick”).

Noun

spur (plural spurs)

1. A rigid implement, often roughly y-shaped, that is fixed to one's heel for the purpose of prodding a horse. Often worn by, and emblematic of, the cowboy or the knight.

   Meronyms: rowel, prick

   • 1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 22:

     Two sorts of spurs seem to have been in use about the time of the Conquest, one called a pryck, having only a single point like the gaffle of a fighting cock; the other consisting of a number of points of considerable length, radiating from and revolving on a center, thence named the rouelle or wheel spur.

2. A jab given with the spurs.
   • 1832, The Atheneum (volume 31, page 493)

     I had hardly said the word, when Kit jumped into the saddle, and gave his horse a whip and a spur — and off it cantered, as if it were in as great a hurry to be married as Kit himself.

3. (figuratively) Anything that inspires or motivates, as a spur does a horse.
4. An appendage or spike pointing rearward, near the foot, for instance that of a rooster.
5. Any protruding part connected at one end, for instance a highway that extends from another highway into a city.
6. Roots, tree roots.
7. (geology) A mountain that shoots from another mountain or range and extends some distance in a lateral direction, or at right angles.
8. A spiked iron worn by seamen upon the bottom of the boot, to enable them to stand upon the carcass of a whale to strip off the blubber.
9. (carpentry) A brace strengthening a post and some connected part, such as a rafter or crossbeam; a strut.
10. (architecture) The short wooden buttress of a post.
11. (architecture) A projection from the round base of a column, occupying the angle of a square plinth upon which the base rests, or bringing the bottom bed of the base to a nearly square form. It is generally carved in leafage.
12. Ergotized rye or other grain.
13. A wall in a fortification that crosses a part of a rampart and joins to an inner wall.
14. (shipbuilding) A piece of timber fixed on the bilgeways before launching, having the upper ends bolted to the vessel's side.
15. (shipbuilding) A curved piece of timber serving as a half to support the deck where a whole beam cannot be placed.
16. (mining) A branch of a vein.
17. (rail transport) A very short branch line of a railway line.
18. (transport) A short branch road of a motorway, freeway or major road.
19. (botany) A short thin side shoot from a branch, especially one that bears fruit or, in conifers, the shoots that bear the leaves.

Derived terms

• spur gear
• spur-leather
• spur-of-the-moment
• spur road

Translations

Verb

spur (third-person singular simple present spurs, present participle spurring, simple past and past participle spurred)

1. (transitive) To prod (especially a horse) on the side or flank, with the intent to urge motion or haste, to gig.
   • 1592, William Shakespeare, Richard III, Act V, Scene III, line 339:

     Draw, archers, draw your arrows to the head! Spur your proud horses hard, and ride in blood; Amaze the welkin with your broken staves!

2. (transitive) To urge or encourage to action, or to a more vigorous pursuit of an object

   Synonyms: incite, stimulate, instigate, impel, drive; see also Thesaurus:incite

   • 1599, William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, Act III, Scene IV, line 4.

     My desire / (More sharp than filed steel) did spur me forth...
3. (transitive) To put spurs on.

4. (intransitive) To press forward; to travel in great haste.

Derived terms

• spur on

Translations

Etymology 2

See sparrow.

Noun

spur (plural spurs)

1. A tern.

Etymology 3

Short for spurious.

Noun

spur (plural spurs)

1. (electronics) A spurious tone, one that interferes with a signal in a circuit and is often masked underneath that signal.

Etymology 4

Noun

spur (plural spurs)

1. The track of an animal, such as an otter; a spoor.

Translations

Etymology 5

Verb

spur (third-person singular simple present spurs, present participle spurring, simple past and past participle spurred)

1. (obsolete, dialectal) Alternative form of speer.
   • 1638, Thomas Heywood, "The Rape of Lucrece. A true Roman Tragedy", in The Dramatic Works of Thomas Heywood, Vol. V, John Pearson, 1874, pages 230 & 231.

   • The Pall Mall Magazine, Vol. 33, 1904, page 435.

Anagrams

• Prus, purs, surp

Middle English

Noun

spur

1. Alternative form of spore

Scots

Alternative forms

• sparra
• spug
• spuggie
• speug

Noun

spur (plural spurs)

1. sparrow

References

• “spur” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English led, leed, from Old English l?ad (“lead”), from Proto-West Germanic *laud (“lead”), borrowed from Proto-Celtic *?loudom, from Proto-Indo-European *plewd- (“to flow”). Cognate with Scots leid, lede (“lead”), North Frisian lud, luad (“lead”), West Frisian lead (“lead”), Dutch lood (“lead”), German Lot (“solder, plummet, sounding line”), Swedish lod (“lead”), Icelandic lóð (“a plumb, weight”), Irish luaidhe (“lead”) Latin plumbum (“lead”). Doublet of loth. More at flow.

Pronunciation

• enPR: l?d, IPA^(key): /l?d/
• Homophone: led

Noun

lead (countable and uncountable, plural leads)

1. (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).
2. (countable, nautical) A plummet or mass of lead attached to a line, used in sounding depth at sea or (dated) to estimate velocity in knots.
3. A thin strip of type metal, used to separate lines of type in printing.
4. (uncountable, typography) Vertical space in advance of a row or between rows of text. Also known as leading.

5. Sheets or plates of lead used as a covering for roofs.
6. (plural leads) A roof covered with lead sheets or terne plates.
7. (countable) A thin cylinder of black lead or plumbago (graphite) used in pencils.
8. (slang) Bullets; ammunition.

Derived terms

Translations

See lead/translations § Etymology 1.

Verb

lead (third-person singular simple present leads, present participle leading, simple past and past participle leaded)

1. (transitive) To cover, fill, or affect with lead

2. (transitive, printing, historical) To place leads between the lines of.

Usage notes

Note carefully these three senses are verbs derived from the noun referring to the metallic element, and are unrelated to the heteronym defined below under #Etymology 2.

Translations

See lead/translations § Etymology 1.

See also

Further reading

• David Barthelmy (1997–2021) , “Lead”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database
• “lead”, in Mindat.org?^[1], Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2021.
• lead on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

From Middle English leden, from Old English l?dan (“to lead”), from Proto-West Germanic *laidijan, from Proto-Germanic *laidijan? (“to cause one to go, lead”), causative of Proto-Germanic *l?þan? (“to go”), from Proto-Indo-European *leit-, *leith- (“to leave, die”).

Cognate with West Frisian liede (“to lead”), Dutch leiden (“to lead”), German leiten (“to lead”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål lede (“to lead”), Norwegian Nynorsk leia (“to lead”), Swedish leda (“to lead”). Related to Old English l?þan (“to go, travel”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: l?d, IPA^(key): /li?d/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /lid/
• Homophones: leed, lede

Verb

lead (third-person singular simple present leads, present participle leading, simple past and past participle led)

2. (heading, transitive) To guide or conduct.
   1. To guide or conduct with the hand, or by means of some physical contact connection.

      • 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.
   2. 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.

      • 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.
   3. (figuratively): To direct; to counsel; to instruct

   4. To conduct or direct with authority; to have direction or charge of; to command, especially a military or business unit.
      • 1664, Robert South, A Sermon Preached Before the University at Christ-Church, Oxon

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

   5. 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, In Memoriam A.H.H, XXXIII

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

      • 1849-50, Charles Dickens, David Copperfield, Chapter 61

        You remember […] the life he used to lead his wife and daughter.

3. (intransitive) 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.
4. (heading) To begin, to be ahead.
   1. (transitive) To go or to be in advance of; to precede; hence, to be foremost or chief among.
      • 1600, Edward Fairfax, The Jerusalem Delivered of Tasso

        As Hesperus, that leads the sun his way.

      • c. 1819, Leigh Hunt, Abou Ben Adhem

        And lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest.
   2. (intransitive) To lead off or out, to go first; to begin.
   3. (intransitive) To be more advanced in technology or business than others.
   4. (heading, sports)
      1. (transitive, card games, dominoes) To begin a game, round, or trick, with

      2. (intransitive) To be ahead of others, e.g., in a race.
      3. (intransitive) To have the highest interim score in a game.
      4. (baseball) To step off base and move towards the next base.

      5. (shooting) To aim in front of a moving target, in order that the shot may hit the target as it passes.
      6. (transitive, climbing) Lead climb.
5. (transitive) To draw or direct by influence, whether good or bad; to prevail on; to induce; to entice; to allure
   • 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.
6. (intransitive) To tend or reach in a certain direction, or to a certain place.
   • ca. 1590, William Shakespeare, Two Gentlemen of Verona, V-ii

     The mountain-foot that leads towards Mantua.
7. To produce (with to).
8. Misspelling of led.
9. (transitive) To live or experience (a particular way of life).

Derived terms

Related terms

• lad, laddie

Translations

See lead/translations § Etymology 2.

Noun

lead (countable and uncountable, plural leads)

1. (countable) The act of leading or conducting; guidance; direction, course
   • 1796, Edmund Burke, a letter to a noble lord

     At the time I speak of, and having a momentary lead, […] I am sure I did my country important service.

2. (countable) Precedence; advance position; also, the measure of precedence; the state of being ahead in a race; the highest score in a game in an incomplete game.
3. (Britain, countable) An insulated metallic wire for electrical devices and equipment.
4. (baseball) The situation where a runner steps away from a base while waiting for the pitch to be thrown.

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

6. (acting) The main role in a play or film; the lead role.
7. (acting) The actor who plays the main role; lead actor.
8. (business) The person in charge of a project or a work shift etc.

   John is the development lead on this software product.

9. (countable) A channel of open water in an ice field.
10. (countable, mining) A lode.
11. (nautical) The course of a rope from end to end.
12. A rope, leather strap, or similar device with which to lead an animal; a leash
13. 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.
14. Charging lead. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
15. (civil engineering) The distance of haul, as from a cutting to an embankment.
16. (horology) The action of a tooth, such as a tooth of a wheel, in impelling another tooth or a pallet.
17. Hypothesis that has not been pursued

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

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

20. Information obtained by a news reporter about an issue or subject that allows him or her to discover more details.
21. (curling) The player who throws the first two rocks for a team.
22. (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.)
23. An important news story that appears on the front page of a newspaper or at the beginning of a news broadcast
24. (engineering) The axial distance a screw thread travels in one revolution. It is equal to the pitch times the number of starts.
25. (music) In a barbershop quartet, the person who sings the melody, usually the second tenor
26. (music) The announcement by one voice part of a theme to be repeated by the other parts.
27. (music) A mark or a short passage in one voice part, as of a canon, serving as a cue for the entrance of others.
28. (engineering) The excess above a right angle in the angle between two consecutive cranks, as of a compound engine, on the same shaft.
29. (electrical) The angle between the line joining the brushes of a continuous-current dynamo and the diameter symmetrical between the poles.
30. (electrical) The advance of the current phase in an alternating circuit beyond that of the electromotive force producing it.

Usage notes

Note that these noun (attributive) uses are all derived from the verb, not the chemical element in #Etymology 1.

Derived terms

Translations

See lead/translations § Etymology 2.

Adjective

lead (not comparable)

1. (not comparable) Foremost.

   Synonyms: first, front, head, leader, leading

2. (music) main, principal
   • 2017 August 25, "Arrest threat as Yingluck Shinawatra misses verdict", in aljazeera.com, Al Jazeera:

     Yingluck Shinawatra, Thailand's ex-prime minister, has missed a verdict in a negligence trial that could have seen her jailed, prompting the Supreme Court to say it will issue an arrest warrant fearing she is a flight risk, according to the lead judge in the case.

Etymology 3

Verb

lead

1. Misspelling of led.

References

• lead in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• ALDE, Adel, Dale, Deal, Dela, E.D. La., Leda, adle, dale, deal, lade

Hungarian

Etymology

le- +? ad

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?l??d]
• Hyphenation: le?ad
• Rhymes: -?d

Verb

lead

1. (transitive) to pass down, hand down, turn in, drop off
2. (transitive) to lose weight, usually as a result of some kind of training or exercise

Conjugation

Derived terms

• leadás

(Expressions):

• leadja a voksát

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *laud.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /læ???d/

Noun

l?ad n

1. lead

Declension

Derived terms

• l?eden

Descendants

• Middle English: led, lede, lead, leyd, leod, leyt
  • English: lead
  • Scots: leid, lede
  • Yola: leed

Polish

Etymology

From English lead.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /l?it/

Noun

lead m inan

1. (newspapers, journalism) lead paragraph, teaser, lead-in (start of a newspaper column, telling who, what, when, where, why and how)

Declension

Further reading

• lead in Wielki s?ownik j?zyka polskiego, Instytut J?zyka Polskiego PAN
• lead in Polish dictionaries at PWN