Leader

//ˈli.dɚ// name, noun

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname originating as an occupation for a person who led a horse and cart. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    A river in north Canterbury, New Zealand, which joins the (Canterbury) Waiau. countable, uncountable
  3. 3
    A town in the Rural Municipality of Happyland No. 231, western Saskatchewan, Canada, originally named Prussia. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    A populated place in Adams County, Colorado, United States. countable, uncountable
Noun
  1. 1
    Any person who leads or directs.

    "In an era when political leaders promise deliverance from decline through America’s purported preeminence in scientific research, the news that science is in deep trouble in the United States has been as unwelcome as a diagnosis of leukemia following the loss of health insurance."

  2. 2
    a featured article of merchandise sold at a loss in order to draw customers wordnet
  3. 3
    Any person who leads or directs.; One who goes first.

    "Follow the leader."

  4. 4
    a person who rules or guides or inspires others wordnet
  5. 5
    Any person who leads or directs.; One having authority to direct.

    "We elected her team leader."

Show 21 more definitions
  1. 6
    Any person who leads or directs.; One who leads a political party or group of elected party members; sometimes used in titles.

    "Leader of the House of Commons"

  2. 7
    Any person who leads or directs.; A person or organization that leads in a certain field in terms of excellence, success, etc.

    "The company is the leader in home remodeling in the county."

  3. 8
    Any person who leads or directs.; A performer who leads a band, choir, or a section of an orchestra.
  4. 9
    Any person who leads or directs.; The first violin in a symphony orchestra; the concertmaster. UK
  5. 10
    An animal that leads.; The dominant animal in a pack of animals, such as wolves or lions.

    "The gesture of licking and nipping a leader's muzzle is similar to the food-begging behavior of wolf pups and may be related to it."

  6. 11
    An animal that leads.; An animal placed in advance of others, especially on a team of horse, oxen, or dogs.

    "Still there are many passages in his [Donne's] writings, where it is plain that he forgot to pull in his leaders; and they gallop away with him at times over hill and dale, over ploughed land and waste."

  7. 12
    An animal that leads.; Either of the two front horses of a team of four in front of a carriage.

    "How proud felt Pierre: In fancy’s eye, he saw the horse-ghosts a-tandem in the van; “These are but wheelers”—cried young Pierre—“the leaders are the generations.”"

  8. 13
    Someone or something that leads or conducts.; A fast-growing terminal shoot of a woody plant.

    "A strong central leader may result in essentially horizontal branches resembling a "telephone pole.""

  9. 14
    Someone or something that leads or conducts.; A pipe for conducting rain water from a roof to a cistern or to the ground.
  10. 15
    Someone or something that leads or conducts.; The first, or the principal, editorial article in a newspaper; a leading or main editorial article; a lead story. UK
  11. 16
    Someone or something that leads or conducts.; A section of line between the main fishing line and the snell of a hook, intended to be more resistant to bites and harder for a fish to detect than the main fishing line.
  12. 17
    Someone or something that leads or conducts.; A piece of material at the beginning or end of a reel or roll to allow the material to be threaded or fed onto something, as a reel of film onto a projector or a roll of paper onto a rotary printing press.

    "If you need to reload film, the cassette can be rewound slightly by turning the hub located on one end of its spool. Do not rewind so much that the leader disappears into the cassette."

  13. 18
    Someone or something that leads or conducts.; An intertitle. dated

    "The leader only runs three seconds, but it acts like a drop curtain in a theater."

  14. 19
    Someone or something that leads or conducts.; A loss leader or a popular product sold at a normal price.
  15. 20
    Someone or something that leads or conducts.; A type having a dot or short row of dots upon its face.
  16. 21
    Someone or something that leads or conducts.; A row of dots, periods, or hyphens, used in tables of contents, etc., to lead the eye across a space to the right word or number. in-plural
  17. 22
    Someone or something that leads or conducts.; A net for leading fish into a pound, weir, etc.

    "when two wheels geer together, the one which communicates the motion to the other is called the driver or leader; and the wheel impelled is the follower"

  18. 23
    Someone or something that leads or conducts.; A branch or small vein, not important in itself, but indicating the proximity of a better one.
  19. 24
    Someone or something that leads or conducts.; A block of hard wood pierced with suitable holes for leading ropes in their proper places.
  20. 25
    Someone or something that leads or conducts.; The drive wheel in any kind of machinery.
  21. 26
    Someone or something that leads or conducts.; The path taken by electrons from a cloud to ground level, determining the shape of a bolt of lightning.

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English leder, ledere, from Old English lǣdere (“leader”), from Proto-West Germanic *laidijārī (“leader”), equivalent to lead + -er. Cognate with Scots ledar, leidar (“leader”), West Frisian lieder (“leader”), Dutch leider (“leader”), German Leiter (“leader, conductor, manager”), Danish leder (“leader, manager”), Swedish ledare (“leader, conductor, director”), Icelandic leiðari (“leader, conductor”).

Etymology 2

English surname, both from the noun leader and an occupational use of lead (“heavy metal”).

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