Lead

[leed] /lid/

verb (used with object), led, leading.
1.
to go before or with to show the way; conduct or escort:
to lead a group on a cross-country hike.
2.
to conduct by holding and guiding:
to lead a horse by a rope.
3.
to influence or induce; cause:
Subsequent events led him to reconsider his position.
4.
to guide in direction, course, action, opinion, etc.; bring:
You can lead her around to your point of view if you are persistent.
5.
to conduct or bring (water, wire, etc.) in a particular course.
6.
(of a road, passage, etc.) to serve to bring (a person) to a place:
The first street on the left will lead you to Andrews Place.
7.
to take or bring:
The prisoners were led into the warden’s office.
8.
to command or direct (an army or other large organization):
He led the Allied forces during the war.
9.
to go at the head of or in advance of (a procession, list, body, etc.); proceed first in:
The mayor will lead the parade.
10.
to be superior to; have the advantage over:
The first baseman leads his teammates in runs batted in.
11.
to have top position or first place in:
Iowa leads the nation in corn production.
12.
to have the directing or principal part in:
The minister will now lead us in prayer. He led a peace movement.
13.
to act as leader of (an orchestra, band, etc.); conduct.
14.
to go through or pass (time, life, etc.):
to lead a full life.
15.
Cards. to begin a round, game, etc., with (a card or suit specified).
16.
to aim and fire a firearm or cannon ahead of (a moving target) in order to allow for the travel of the target while the bullet or shell is reaching it.
17.
Football. to throw a lead pass to (an intended receiver):
The quarterback led the left end.
verb (used without object), led, leading.
18.
to act as a guide; show the way:
You lead and we’ll follow.
19.
to afford passage to a place:
That path leads directly to the house.
20.
to go first; be in advance:
The band will lead and the troops will follow.
21.
to result in; tend toward (usually followed by to):
The incident led to his resignation. One remark often leads to another.
22.
to take the directing or principal part.
23.
to take the offensive:
The contender led with a right to the body.
24.
Cards. to make the first play.
25.
to be led or submit to being led, as a horse:
A properly trained horse will lead easily.
26.
Baseball. (of a base runner) to leave a base before the delivery of a pitch in order to reach the next base more quickly (often followed by away).
27.
lead back, to play (a card) from a suit that one’s partner led.
noun
28.
the first or foremost place; position in advance of others:
He took the lead in the race.
29.
the extent of such an advance position:
He had a lead of four lengths.
30.
a person or thing that leads.
31.
a leash.
32.
a suggestion or piece of information that helps to direct or guide; tip; clue:
I got a lead on a new job. The phone list provided some great sales leads.
33.
a guide or indication of a road, course, method, etc., to follow.
34.
precedence; example; leadership:
They followed the lead of the capital in their fashions.
35.
Theater.

36.
Cards.

37.
Journalism.

38.
Electricity. an often flexible and insulated single conductor, as a wire, used in connections between pieces of electric apparatus.
39.
the act of taking the offensive.
40.
Nautical.

41.
Naval Architecture. the distance between the center of lateral resistance and the center of effort of a sailing ship, usually expressed decimally as a fraction of the water-line length.
42.
an open channel through a field of ice.
43.
Mining.

44.
the act of aiming a gun ahead of a moving target.
45.
the distance ahead of a moving target that a gun must be aimed in order to score a direct hit.
46.
Baseball. an act or instance of leading.
47.
Manège. (of a horse at a canter or gallop) the foreleg that consistently extends beyond and strikes the ground ahead of the other foreleg:
The horse is cantering on the left lead.
adjective
48.
most important; principal; leading; first: lead editorial; lead elephant;
lead designer.
49.
Football. (of a forward pass) thrown ahead of the intended receiver so as to allow him to catch it while running.
50.
Baseball. (of a base runner) nearest to scoring:
They forced the lead runner at third base on an attempted sacrifice.
Verb phrases
51.
lead off,

52.
lead on,

53.
lead out,

Idioms
54.
lead someone a chase / dance, to cause someone difficulty by forcing to do irksome or unnecessary things.
55.
lead the way. 1 (def 34).
56.
lead up to,

[led] /lɛd/
noun
1.
Chemistry. a heavy, comparatively soft, malleable, bluish-gray metal, sometimes found in its natural state but usually combined as a sulfide, especially in galena. Symbol: Pb; atomic weight: 207.19; atomic number: 82; specific gravity: 11.34 at 20°C.
2.
something made of this metal or of one of its alloys.
3.
a plummet or mass of lead suspended by a line, as for taking soundings.
4.
bullets collectively; shot.
5.
or graphite.
6.
a small stick of graphite, as used in pencils.
7.
Also, leading. Printing. a thin strip of type metal or brass less than type-high, used for increasing the space between lines of type.
8.
a grooved bar of lead or came in which sections of glass are set, as in stained-glass windows.
9.
leads, British. a roof, especially one that is shallow or flat, covered with lead.
10.
.
verb (used with object)
11.
to cover, line, weight, treat, or impregnate with lead or one of its compounds.
12.
Printing. to insert leads between the lines of.
13.
to fix (window glass) in position with leads.
adjective
14.
made of or containing lead:
a lead pipe; a lead compound.
Idioms
15.
get the lead out, Slang. to move or work faster; hurry up.
16.
heave the lead, Nautical. to take a sounding with a lead.
17.
go over like a lead balloon, Slang. to fail to arouse interest, enthusiasm, or support.
/liːd/
verb leads, leading, led (lɛd)
1.
to show the way to (an individual or a group) by going with or ahead: lead the party into the garden
2.
to guide or be guided by holding, pulling, etc: he led the horse by its reins
3.
(transitive) to cause to act, feel, think, or behave in a certain way; induce; influence: he led me to believe that he would go
4.
(transitive) to phrase a question to (a witness) that tends to suggest the desired answer
5.
when intr, foll by to. (of a road, route, etc) to serve as the means of reaching a place
6.
(transitive) to go ahead so as to indicate (esp in the phrase lead the way)
7.
to guide, control, or direct: to lead an army
8.
(transitive) to direct the course of or conduct (water, a rope or wire, etc) along or as if along a channel
9.
to initiate the action of (something); have the principal part in (something): to lead a discussion
10.
to go at the head of or have the top position in (something): he leads his class in geography
11.
(intransitive) foll by with. to have as the first or principal item: the newspaper led with the royal birth
12.
(music)

13.
to direct and guide (one’s partner) in a dance
14.
(transitive)

15.
(intransitive) foll by to. to tend (to) or result (in): this will only lead to misery
16.
to initiate a round of cards by putting down (the first card) or to have the right to do this: she led a diamond
17.
(transitive) to aim at a point in front of (a moving target) in shooting, etc, in order to allow for the time of flight
18.
(intransitive) (boxing) to make an offensive blow, esp as one’s habitual attacking punch: southpaws lead with their right
19.
lead astray, to mislead so as to cause error or wrongdoing
20.
lead by the nose, See nose (sense 12)
noun
21.

22.
example, precedence, or leadership: the class followed the teacher’s lead
23.
an advance or advantage held over others: the runner had a lead of twenty yards
24.
anything that guides or directs; indication; clue
25.
another name for leash
26.
the act or prerogative of playing the first card in a round of cards or the card so played
27.
the principal role in a play, film, etc, or the person playing such a role
28.

29.
(music) an important entry assigned to one part usually at the beginning of a movement or section
30.
a wire, cable, or other conductor for making an electrical connection
31.
(boxing)

32.
(nautical) the direction in which a rope runs
33.
a deposit of metal or ore; lode
34.
the firing of a gun, missile, etc, ahead of a moving target to correct for the time of flight of the projectile
/lɛd/
noun
1.
a heavy toxic bluish-white metallic element that is highly malleable: occurs principally as galena and used in alloys, accumulators, cable sheaths, paints, and as a radiation shield. Symbol: Pb; atomic no: 82; atomic wt: 207.2; valency: 2 or 4; relative density: 11.35; melting pt: 327.502°C; boiling pt: 1750°C related adjectives plumbic plumbeous plumbous
2.
a lead weight suspended on a line used to take soundings of the depth of water
3.
swing the lead, to malinger or make up excuses
4.
lead weights or shot, as used in cartridges, fishing lines, etc
5.
a thin grooved strip of lead for holding small panes of glass or pieces of stained glass
6.
(pl)

7.
(printing) a thin strip of type metal used for spacing between lines of hot-metal type Compare reglet (sense 2)
8.

9.
(modifier) of, consisting of, relating to, or containing lead
10.
go down like a lead balloon, See balloon (sense 9)
verb (transitive)
11.
to fill or treat with lead
12.
to surround, cover, or secure with lead or leads
13.
(printing) to space (type) by use of leads
v.

“to guide,” Old English lædan “cause to go with one, lead, guide, conduct, carry; sprout forth; bring forth, pass (one’s life),” causative of liðan “to travel,” from West Germanic *laidjan (cf. Old Saxon lithan, Old Norse liða “to go,” Old High German ga-lidan “to travel,” Gothic ga-leiþan “to go”), from PIE *leit- “to go forth.”

Meaning “to be in first place” is from late 14c. Sense in card playing is from 1670s. Related: Led; leading. Lead-off “commencement, beginning” attested from 1879; lead-in “introduction, opening” is from 1928.

early 15c., “to make of lead,” from lead (n.1). Meaning “to cover with lead” is from mid-15c. Related: Leaded (early 13c.); leading.
n.

heavy metal, Old English lead, from West Germanic *loudhom (cf. Old Frisian lad, Middle Dutch loot, Dutch lood “lead,” German Lot “weight, plummet”). The name and the skill in using the metal seem to have been borrowed from the Celts (cf. Old Irish luaide), probably from PIE root *plou(d)- “to flow.”

Figurative of heaviness since at least early 14c. Black lead was an old name for “graphite,” hence lead pencil (1680s) and the colloquial figurative phrase to have lead in one’s pencil “be possessed of (especially male sexual) vigor,” attested by 1902. Lead balloon “a failure,” American English slang, attested by 1957 (as a type of something heavy that can be kept up only with effort, from 1904). Lead-footed “slow” is from 1896; opposite sense of “fast” emerged 1940s in trucker’s jargon, from notion of a foot heavy on the gas pedal.

c.1300, “action of leading,” from lead (v.1). Meaning “the front or leading place” is from 1560s. Johnson stigmatized it as “a low, despicable word.” Sense in card-playing is from 1742; in theater, from 1831; in journalism, from 1912; in jazz bands, from 1934.

lead 1 (lēd)
n.

lead 2 (lěd)
n.
Symbol Pb
A soft ductile dense metallic element. Atomic number 82; atomic weight 207.19; melting point 327.5°C; boiling point 1,749deg;C; specific gravity 11.35; valence 2, 4.
lead
(lěd)
Symbol Pb
A soft, ductile, heavy, bluish-gray metallic element that is extracted chiefly from galena. It is very durable and resistant to corrosion and is a poor conductor of electricity. Lead is used to make radiation shielding and containers for corrosive substances. It was once commonly used in pipes, solder, roofing, paint, and antiknock compounds in gasoline, but its use in these products has been curtailed because of its toxicity. Atomic number 82; atomic weight 207.2; melting point 327.5°C; boiling point 1,744°C; specific gravity 11.35; valence 2, 4. See Periodic Table. See Note at element.

noun

Bullets; gunfire (1809+)

Related Terms

get the lead out, have lead in one’s pants, have lead in one’s pencil