Thursday, June 6, 2013

led, LED

Led or led ( rhymes with head ) is the past tense of "lead" ( rhymes with bead ), meaning to direct or to go in advance of--
"Seventy-six trombones led the big parade..."
The captain led his troops into battle.

LED ( always capitalized, "ell ee dee" ) stands for "light-emitting diode"--
An LED looks like a miniature light bulb.
Your digital display may be an example of an LED.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"The invention of the LED led to the development of a low-energy light bulb for home use."

Note--"lead" may also mean the metal or element ( pronounced to rhyme with head )--
Lead protects Superman from kryptonite.
The dentist puts an apron full of lead pellets on patients before an x-ray.
Note # 2--"LCD" ( ell cee dee ) stands for "liquid crystal display"--
New TV's usually have an LCD screen.

No comments:

Post a Comment