Word.ws English Dictionary

leadsman

UK/ˈliːdz.mən/

leadsman noun: lodesman (a leader or guide).

Noun (1)

leadsman (plural leadsmen)

  1. (obsolete) lodesman (a leader or guide)

Noun (2)

UK/ˈlɛdzmən/

leadsman (plural leadsmen)

  1. A sailor who takes soundings with a lead, measuring the depth of water.
    • In the same moment the leadsman hove the lead, and, finding it directly take the ground, he, in his fright, called out, ‘There's only three fathom.’1808–10, William Hickey, Memoirs of a Georgian Rake, Folio Society 1995, p. 205

Forms of leadsman

pluralleadsmen
alternative formledës-man

Origin of leadsman

From Middle English ledes-man (“a military commander”, “a general”); equivalent to leads (the genitive form of lead: “a leading”, “a directing”, “a guiding”) + man.

From (genitive form of) lead (“heavy metal; Pb”) + man.

Questions about leadsman

What does leadsman mean?
Leadsman means lodesman (a leader or guide).
What part of speech is leadsman?
Leadsman is a noun.
How do you pronounce leadsman?
Leadsman is pronounced /ˈliːdz.mən/ (UK).
What is the plural of leadsman?
The plural of leadsman is leadsmen.

Words near leadsman in the dictionary

  1. leads with one's chin
  2. leadscrew
  3. leadscrews
  4. leadsheet
  5. leadsheets
  6. leadsman
  7. leadsmen
  8. leadswinger
  9. leadswingers
  10. leadtree
  11. leadtrees

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: leadsman (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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