Leading
adj, noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level
Definitions
- 1 An act by which one is led or guided.
"It has been said that we ought not to force our way, but to wait for the openings, and leadings of Providence; but it might with equal propriety be answered in this case, neither ought we to neglect embracing those openings in providence which daily present themselves to us."
- 2 Vertical space added between lines; line spacing. uncountable
- 3 the activity of leading wordnet
- 4 Command of an army or military unit. archaic
"Art thou but Captaine of a thouſand horſe, That by Characters grauen in thy browes, And by thy martiall face and ſtout aſpect, Deſeru’ſt to haue the leading of an hoſte?"
- 5 thin strip of metal used to separate lines of type in printing wordnet
- 1 present participle and gerund of lead form-of, gerund, participle, present
"I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting, […], and finally leading me to his buggy, turned and drove out of town."
- 1 Providing guidance or direction. not-comparable
"Avoid leading questions if you really want the truth."
- 2 Ranking first. not-comparable
"He is a leading supplier of plumbing supplies in the county."
- 3 Occurring in advance; preceding. not-comparable
"The stock market can be a leading economic indicator."
- 1 going or proceeding or going in advance; showing the way wordnet
- 2 indicating the most important performer or role wordnet
- 3 greatest in importance or degree or significance or achievement wordnet
- 4 having the leading position or higher score in a contest wordnet
Example
More examples"More than ever do we need goals or leading ideas that will give purpose to whatever we are doing."
Etymology
From Middle English ledinge, ledynge, ledand, ledande, ledende, from Old English lǣdende, from Proto-West Germanic *laidijandī, from Proto-Germanic *laidijandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *laidijaną (“to lead”), equivalent to lead + -ing. Compare West Frisian liedend, Dutch leidend, German leitend, Swedish ledande, Icelandic leiðandi.
From Middle English leding, ledyng, ledinge, ledunge, equivalent to lead + -ing. Cognate with Dutch leiding (“conduit, leading, guidance, leadership”), German Leitung (“line, conduit, cable”).
From Middle English leedynge, equivalent to lead (chemical element) + -ing; so named because in metal typesetting (letterpress and hot metal typesetting), pieces of lead (slugs, strips, blocks, etc) were often the mechanical means of producing the gap.