Definition of "white lead" []

• A heavy white poisonous powder, essentially basic lead carbonate, used in paint pigments. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "But in spite of all the white lead and sugar and chalk through which he had sucked his way, MacGreedy could not come to the almond."