Definition of "lead"

(uncountable) 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).  examples

(countable, nautical) A plummet or mass of lead attached to a line, used in sounding depth at sea or (dated) to estimate velocity in knots.  examples

A thin strip of type metal, used to separate lines of type in printing.  examples

(uncountable, typography) Vertical space in advance of a row or between rows of text. Also known as leading.  examples

Sheets or plates of lead used as a covering for roofs.  examples

(countable) A roof covered with lead sheets or terne plates.  quotations  examples

(countable) A thin cylinder of graphite used in pencils.  examples

(slang) bullets; ammunition.

(medicine, in the plural) X-ray protective clothing lined with lead.  examples

(transitive) To cover, fill, or affect with lead.  examples

(transitive, printing, historical) To place leads between the lines of.

(heading, transitive) To guide or conduct.

1. To guide or conduct with the hand, or by means of some physical contact connection.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • If a blind man lead a blind man, both fall down in the ditch.

     1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Matthew 15:14

   • They thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill.

     1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Luke 4:29

   • In thy right hand lead with thee / The mountain nymph, sweet Liberty.

     a. 1645, John Milton, “L’Allegro”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646

2. 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 lead a pupil; to guide somebody somewhere or to bring somebody somewhere by means of instructions.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way.

     1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Exodus 13:21

   • He leadeth me beside the still waters.

     1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Psalms 23:2

   • This thought might lead me through the world’s vain mask. Content, though blind, had I no better guide.

     1673, John Milton, “[Sonnet] [Sonnet] XXI”, in Poems, &c. upon Several Occasions, London: […] Tho[mas] Dring […]

   • I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.

     1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company

3. (figuratively) : To direct; to counsel; to instruct  examples

4. To conduct or direct with authority; to have direction or charge of; to command, especially a military or business unit.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • Christ took not upon him flesh and blood that he might conquer and rule nations, lead armies, or possess places.

     1664, Robert South, “(please specify the sermon number)A Sermon Preached Before the University at Christ-Church, Oxon”, in Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions. […], new edition, volumes (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: […] Thomas Tegg, […], published 1843

5. To guide or conduct oneself in, through, or along (a certain course); hence, to proceed in the way of; to follow the path or course of; to pass; to spend. Also, to cause (one) to proceed or follow in (a certain course).  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life.

     1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], 1 Timothy 2:2

   • Nor thou with shadow'd hint confuse / A life that leads melodious days.

     1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], canto XXXIII

   • You remember […] the life he used to lead his wife and daughter.

     1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, chapter 61, in The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850

(intransitive) 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.  examples

(heading) To begin, to be ahead.

1. (transitive) To go or to be in advance of; to precede; hence, to be foremost or chief among.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • As Hesperus, that leads the sun his way.

     1600, Edward Fairfax, The Jerusalem Delivered of Tasso

   • And lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest.

     c. 1819, Leigh Hunt, Abou Ben Adhem

   • “Well,” I answered, at first with uncertainty, then with inspiration, “he would do splendidly to lead your cotillon, if you think of having one.” ¶ “So you do not dance, Mr. Crocker?” ¶ I was somewhat set back by her perspicuity.

     1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd.

2. (intransitive) To lead off or out, to go first; to begin.  examples

3. (intransitive) To be more advanced in technology or business than others.  examples

4. (heading, sports)

   1. (transitive, card games, dominoes) To begin a game, round, or trick, with  examples

   2. (intransitive) To be ahead of others, e.g., in a race.  examples

   3. (intransitive) To have the highest interim score in a game.  examples

   4. (baseball) To step off base and move towards the next base.  examples

   5. (shooting) To aim in front of a moving target, in order that the shot may hit the target as it passes.  examples

   6. (transitive, climbing) Lead climb.  examples

(transitive) To draw or direct by influence, whether good or bad; to prevail on; to induce; to entice; to allure  quotations  examples

(intransitive) To tend or reach in a certain direction, or to a certain place.  quotations  examples

To produce (with to).  quotations  examples

Misspelling of led.  examples

(transitive) To live or experience (a particular way of life).  examples

(countable) The act of leading or conducting; guidance; direction, course  quotations  examples

(countable) Precedence; advance position; also, the measure of precedence; the state of being ahead in a race; the highest score in a game in an incomplete game.  quotations  examples

(UK, countable) An insulated metallic wire for electrical devices and equipment.  examples

(baseball) The situation where a runner steps away from a base while waiting for the pitch to be thrown.  examples

(uncountable, card games, dominoes) The act or right of playing first in a game or round; the card suit, or piece, so played  examples

(acting, theater) The main role in a play or film; the lead role.  quotations  examples

(acting) The actor who plays the main role; lead actor.  examples

(business) The person in charge of a project or a work shift etc.  examples

(countable) A channel of open water in an ice field.  examples

(countable, mining) A lode.  examples

(nautical) The course of a rope from end to end.  examples

A rope, leather strap, or similar device with which to lead an animal; a leash  examples

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.  examples

(civil engineering) The distance of haul, as from a cutting to an embankment.  examples

(horology) The action of a tooth, such as a tooth of a wheel, in impelling another tooth or a pallet.

Hypothesis that has not been pursued  examples

Information obtained by a detective or police officer that allows him or her to discover further details about a crime or incident.  examples

(marketing) Potential opportunity for a sale or transaction, a potential customer.  examples

Information obtained by a news reporter about an issue or subject that allows him or her to discover more details.  examples

(curling) The player who throws the first two rocks for a team.  examples

(newspapers) A teaser; a lead-in; the start of a newspaper column, telling who, what, when, where, why and how. (Sometimes spelled as lede for this usage to avoid ambiguity.)  examples

An important news story that appears on the front page of a newspaper or at the beginning of a news broadcast  examples

(engineering) The axial distance a screw thread travels in one revolution. It is equal to the pitch times the number of starts.  examples

(music) In a barbershop quartet, the person who sings the melody, usually the second tenor  examples

(music) The announcement by one voice part of a theme to be repeated by the other parts.  examples

(music) A mark or a short passage in one voice part, as of a canon, serving as a cue for the entrance of others.  examples

(engineering) The excess above a right angle in the angle between two consecutive cranks, as of a compound engine, on the same shaft.  examples

(electrical) The angle between the line joining the brushes of a continuous-current dynamo and the diameter symmetrical between the poles.  examples

(electrical) The advance of the current phase in an alternating circuit beyond that of the electromotive force producing it.  examples

(not comparable) Foremost.  quotations  examples

Main, principal, primary, first, chief, foremost.  quotations  examples

Misspelling of led.  examples