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Lead

//lɛd// adj, name, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Adjective

1
Foremost. not-comparable
"The contestants are all tied; no one has the lead position."
2
Main, principal, primary, first, chief, foremost. not-comparable
"the lead guitarist in band"

Proper Noun

1
A civil parish in North Yorkshire, England.
2
A city in Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States.

Noun

1
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). uncountable
2
The act of leading or conducting; guidance; direction, course countable
"to take the lead"
3
the playing of a card to start a trick in bridge wordnet
4
A plummet or mass of lead attached to a line, used in sounding depth at sea or to estimate velocity in knots. countable
5
Precedence; advance position; also, the measure of precedence; the state of being ahead in a race; the highest score in an incomplete game. countable
"the white horse had the lead."

Show 51 more definitions

6
a position of being the initiator of something and an example that others will follow (especially in the phrase ‘take the lead’) wordnet
7
A thin strip of type metal, used to separate lines of type in printing. countable, uncountable
8
An insulated metallic wire for electrical devices and equipment. UK, countable
9
a jumper that consists of a short piece of wire wordnet
10
Vertical space in advance of a row or between rows of text. Also known as leading. uncountable
"This copy has too much lead; I prefer less space between the lines."
11
The situation where a runner steps away from a base while waiting for the pitch to be thrown. countable, uncountable
"The runner took his lead from first."
12
mixture of graphite with clay in different degrees of hardness; the marking substance in a pencil wordnet
13
Sheets or plates of lead used as a covering for roofs. countable, uncountable
14
The act or right of playing first in a game or round; the card suit, or piece, so played uncountable
"your partner has the lead"
15
thin strip of metal used to separate lines of type in printing wordnet
16
A roof covered with lead sheets or terne plates. countable
"I would have the tower two stories, and goodly leads upon the top."
17
The main role in a play or film; the lead role. countable, uncountable
""You make moving pictures. In jungles and places." "That's me. And I've picked you for the lead in my next picture.""
18
restraint consisting of a rope (or light chain) used to restrain an animal wordnet
19
A thin cylinder of graphite used in pencils. countable
20
The actor who plays the main role; lead actor. countable, uncountable
21
the timing of ignition relative to the position of the piston in an internal-combustion engine wordnet
22
Bullets; ammunition. countable, slang, uncountable
"They pumped him full of lead."
23
The person in charge of a project or a work shift etc. countable, uncountable
"John is the development lead on this software product."
24
an advantage held by a competitor in a race wordnet
25
X-ray protective clothing lined with lead. countable, in-plural, uncountable
"You must remember to wear your leads."
26
A channel of open water in an ice field. countable
27
evidence pointing to a possible solution wordnet
28
A lode. countable
29
the introductory section of a story wordnet
30
The course of a rope from end to end. countable, uncountable
31
a news story of major importance wordnet
32
A rope, leather strap, or similar device with which to lead an animal; a leash countable, uncountable
33
an indication of potential opportunity wordnet
34
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. countable, uncountable
"Usage note: When used alone it means outside lead, or lead for the admission of steam. Inside lead refers to the release or exhaust."
35
(baseball) the position taken by a base runner preparing to advance to the next base wordnet
36
The distance of haul, as from a cutting to an embankment. countable, uncountable
37
an actor who plays a principal role wordnet
38
The action of a tooth, such as a tooth of a wheel, in impelling another tooth or a pallet. countable, uncountable
39
(sports) the score by which a team or individual is winning wordnet
40
Hypothesis that has not been pursued countable, uncountable
"The investigation stalled when all leads turned out to be dead ends."
41
the angle between the direction a gun is aimed and the position of a moving target (correcting for the flight time of the missile) wordnet
42
Information obtained by a detective or police officer that allows him or her to discover further details about a crime or incident. countable, uncountable
"The police have a couple of leads they will follow to solve the case."
43
a soft heavy toxic malleable metallic element; bluish white when freshly cut but tarnishes readily to dull grey wordnet
44
Potential opportunity for a sale or transaction, a potential customer. countable, uncountable
"Joe is a great addition to our sales team, he has numerous leads in the paper industry."
45
Information obtained by a news reporter about an issue or subject that allows him or her to discover more details. countable, uncountable
46
The player who throws the first two rocks for a team. countable, uncountable
47
The introductory paragraph or paragraphs of a newspaper, or a news or other type of article. (Sometimes spelled as lede for this usage to avoid ambiguity.) US, countable, uncountable
48
An important news story that appears on the front page of a newspaper or at the beginning of a news broadcast countable, uncountable
49
The axial distance a screw thread travels in one revolution. It is equal to the pitch times the number of starts. countable, uncountable
50
In a barbershop quartet, the person who sings the melody, usually the second tenor. countable, uncountable
51
The announcement by one voice part of a theme to be repeated by the other parts. countable, uncountable
52
A mark or a short passage in one voice part, as of a canon, serving as a cue for the entrance of others. countable, uncountable
53
A primary synth, often composed of square, sawtooth, triangle or sine waveforms. countable, uncountable
54
The excess above a right angle in the angle between two consecutive cranks, as of a compound engine, on the same shaft. countable, uncountable
55
The angle between the line joining the brushes of a continuous-current dynamo and the diameter symmetrical between the poles. countable, uncountable
56
The advance of the current phase in an alternating circuit beyond that of the electromotive force producing it. countable, uncountable

Verb

1
To cover, fill, or affect with lead. transitive
"continuous firing leads the grooves of a rifle."
2
To guide or conduct.; To guide or conduct with the hand, or by means of some physical contact connection. transitive
"a father leads a child"
3
Misspelling of led. alt-of, misspelling
4
cause to undertake a certain action wordnet
5
To place leads between the lines of. historical, transitive
"to lead a page"

Show 33 more definitions

6
To guide or conduct.; 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 guide somebody somewhere or to bring somebody somewhere by means of instructions. transitive
"The guide was able to lead the tourists through the jungle safely."
7
preside over wordnet
8
To guide or conduct.; To direct; to counsel; to instruct. figuratively, transitive
"A good teacher should lead their students to the right answer."
9
lead, as in the performance of a composition wordnet
10
To guide or conduct.; To conduct or direct with authority; to have direction or charge of; to command, especially a military or business unit. transitive
"to lead a political party"
11
move ahead (of others) in time or space wordnet
12
To guide or conduct.; To draw or direct by influence, whether good or bad; to prevail on; to induce; to entice; to allure. transitive
"to lead someone to a righteous cause"
13
travel in front of; go in advance of others wordnet
14
To guide or conduct.; To influence towards a belief, a conclusion, etc. transitive
"The evidence leads me to believe he is guilty."
15
take somebody somewhere wordnet
16
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. intransitive
17
be in charge of wordnet
18
To begin, to be ahead.; To go or to be in advance of; to precede; hence, to be foremost or chief among. transitive
"the big sloop led the fleet of yachts; the Guards led the attack; Demosthenes leads the orators of all ages"
19
be conducive to wordnet
20
To begin, to be ahead.; To proceed in front of others; to go first. intransitive
"The standard-bearers led and the rest of the marchers followed."
21
produce as a result or residue wordnet
22
To begin, to be ahead.; To be more advanced in technology or business than others. intransitive
"It leads in the information technology sector."
23
tend to or result in wordnet
24
To begin, to be ahead.; To begin a game, round, or trick, with transitive
"to lead trumps"
25
stretch out over a distance, space, time, or scope; run or extend between two points or beyond a certain point wordnet
26
To begin, to be ahead.; To be ahead of others, e.g., in a race. intransitive
27
lead, extend, or afford access wordnet
28
To begin, to be ahead.; To have the highest interim score in a game. intransitive
29
cause something to pass or lead somewhere wordnet
30
To begin, to be ahead.; To step off base and move towards the next base.
"The batter always leads off base."
31
be ahead of others; be the first wordnet
32
To begin, to be ahead.; To aim in front of a moving target, in order that the shot may hit the target as it passes.
33
To begin, to be ahead.; To lead climb. transitive
34
To tend or reach in a certain spatial direction, or to a certain place. intransitive
"the path leads to the mill"
35
To be a cause of. intransitive
"gambling leads to other vices"
36
To live or experience (a particular way of life). transitive, usually
"That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life."
37
Used in phrasal verbs: lead off, lead on, lead out, lead to (“be the cause of, bring about”), lead up, lead up to.
38
Misspelling of led. alt-of, misspelling

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English led, leed, from Old English lēad (“lead”), from Proto-West Germanic *laud (“lead”), possibly borrowed from Proto-Celtic *ɸloudom, 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”), Low German Lod (“solder, plummet”), German Lot (“solder, plummet, sounding line”), Swedish lod (“solder, plummet”), Icelandic lóð (“a plumb, weight”), Irish luaidhe (“lead”) Latin plumbum (“lead”), Finnish luoti (“bullet”). Doublet of loth. More at flow. * (graphite in a pencil): Graphite was once believed to be a form of lead; see black lead and plumbago.

Etymology 2

Etymology 3

From Middle English leden, from Old English lǣdan (“to lead”), from Proto-West Germanic *laidijan, from Proto-Germanic *laidijaną (“to cause one to go, lead”), causative of Proto-Germanic *līþaną (“to go”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyt- (“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 līþan (“to go, travel”).

Etymology 4

Etymology 5

Etymology 6

Perhaps from a confusion or conflation with read, which has a single spelling for both past and present tenses, but has differing pronunciations in the same way as lead, i.e. the present's vowel is /i/, and the past's is /ɛ/. See also red and redd, the obsolete spellings of read.

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