leading off


1 [leed]
verb (used with object), led, leading.
verb (used without object), led, leading.
to take the directing or principal part.
Cards. to make the first play.
a person or thing that leads.
a leash.
the principal part in a play.
the person who plays it.
the card, suit, etc., so played.
the main and often most important news story.
the act of taking the offensive.
the direction of a rope, wire, or chain.
Also called leader. any of various devices for guiding a running rope.
an open channel through a field of ice.
a lode.
an auriferous deposit in an old riverbed.
the act of aiming a gun ahead of a moving target.
Baseball. an act or instance of leading.
most important; principal; leading; first: lead editorial; lead elephant.
Verb phrases
lead off,
to take the initiative; begin.
Baseball. to be the first player in the batting order or the first batter in an inning.
lead on,
to induce to follow an unwise course of action; mislead.
to cause or encourage to believe something that is not true.
lead out,
to make a beginning.
lead the way. way1 ( def 34 ).
lead up to,
to prepare the way for.


1. accompany, precede. See guide. 3. persuade, convince. 10. excel, outstrip, surpass. 28. head, vanguard.

1. follow.
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World English Dictionary
lead1 (liːd)
vb (when intr, foll by to) (foll by with) (foll by to) , leads, leading, led
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.  (tr) to cause to act, feel, think, or behave in a certain way; induce; influence: he led me to believe that he would go
5.  (of a road, route, etc) to serve as the means of reaching a place
7.  to guide, control, or direct: to lead an army
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.  to have as the first or principal item: the newspaper led with the royal birth
12.  music
 a.  (Brit) to play first violin in (an orchestra)
14.  (tr)
 a.  to pass or spend: I lead a miserable life
 b.  to cause to pass a life of a particular kind: to lead a person a dog's life
15.  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
18.  (intr) boxing to make an offensive blow, esp as one's habitual attacking punch: southpaws lead with their right
20.  lead by the nose See nose
21.  a.  the first, foremost, or most prominent place
 b.  (as modifier): lead singer
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
28.  a.  the principal news story in a newspaper: the scandal was the lead in the papers
 b.  the opening paragraph of a news story
 c.  (as modifier): lead story
30.  a wire, cable, or other conductor for making an electrical connection
31.  boxing
 a.  one's habitual attacking punch
 b.  a blow made with this
32.  nautical the direction in which a rope runs
33.  a deposit of metal or ore; lode
[Old English lǣdan; related to līthan to travel, Old High German līdan to go]

lead2 (lɛd)
3.  swing the lead to malinger or make up excuses
6.  (plural)
 a.  thin sheets or strips of lead used as a roof covering
 b.  a flat or low-pitched roof covered with such sheets
7.  printing Compare reglet a thin strip of type metal used for spacing between lines of hot-metal type
8.  a.  graphite or a mixture containing graphite, clay, etc, used for drawing
 b.  a thin stick of this material, esp the core of a pencil
9.  (modifier) of, consisting of, relating to, or containing lead
10.  go down like a lead balloon See balloon
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
Related: plumbic, plumbeous, plumbous
[Old English; related to Dutch lood, German Lot]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Word Origin & History

"to guide," O.E. lædan "cause to go with one, lead," causative of liðan "to travel," from W.Gmc. *laithjan (cf. O.S. lithan, O.N. liða "to go," O.H.G. ga-lidan "to travel," Goth. ga-leiþan "to go"). Meaning "to be in first place" is from late 14c. The noun is first recorded c.1300,

heavy metal, O.E. lead, from W.Gmc. *loudhom (cf. O.Fris. lad, M.Du. loot "lead," Ger. Lot "weight, plummet"). The name and the skill in using the metal seem to have been borrowed from the Celts (cf. O.Ir. luaide, probably from PIE base *plou(d)- "to flow"). 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 (esp. male sexual) vigor," first attested 1941 in Australian slang. Lead balloon "a failure" is from 1960, Amer.Eng. slang. 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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

lead 1 (lēd)

  1. Any of the conductors designed to detect changes in electrical potential when situated in or on the body and connected to an instrument that registers and records these changes, such as an electrocardiograph.

  2. A record made from the current supplied by one of these conductors.

lead 2 (lěd)
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.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
lead   (lěd)  Pronunciation Key 
Symbol Pb
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
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