lead ore
- noun
- /lɛd ɔr/
- Specialized
:
mineral de plomo
- Geologists identified the lead ore deposits in the mountainous region.
- galena, a lead ore
Examples
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The company specializes in processing lead ore into usable lead for manufacturing.
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(Incidentally, pencil leads never contained lead; it's just that when graphite was first used in the 1500s, they thought it was lead ore, and the name stuck).
Blog text (13) -
The miners extracted lead ore from deep within the earth for processing.
Synonyms
63
3.7
A rock or mineral that has metal you can take out and sell
1
9.9
A soft blue-grey mineral that miners dig to get lead
A mineral that contains lead and is used to make white paint
A mineral that people mine to get lead
A green rock that contains lead and gives small amounts of lead when processed
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a mineral from which lead can be extracted' is directly and transparently derivable from combining 'lead' (the metal) with 'ore' (rock or mineral used for metal extraction). This simple noun–noun compound follows a common compositional pattern found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Lead ore comes from the simple picture of miners finding a rock called an ore that holds heavy lead metal they can take out. So Lead ore means a natural rock that gives 'lead' when miners take it out.