1. Accompany somebody somewhere to show them the way
   "we led him to our chief";
   - take, direct, conduct, guide
    
2. Produce as a result or residue
   "The investigation led to several arrests";
   - leave, result
    
3. Tend to or result in
   "This remark led to further arguments among the guests"
    
4. Travel in front of; go in advance of others
   "The procession was led by John";
   - head
    
5. Cause to undertake a certain action
   "Her greed led her to forge the checks"
    
6. Stretch out over a distance, space, time, or scope; run or extend between two points or beyond a certain point
   "Service leads all the way to Cranbury";
   - run, go, pass, extend
    
7. Be in charge of
   "Who is leading this project?";
   - head
    
8. Be ahead of others; be the first
   "she led her class every year";
   - top
    
9. Have the effect of making happen, or become more likely
   "The use of computers in the classroom led to better writing";
   - contribute, conduce [archaic]
    
10. Have the leading position, as in the performance of a composition
    "lead an orchestra";
    - conduct, direct
     
11. Provide access; extend (in the direction of something)
    "This door leads to the basement";
    - go
     
12. Move ahead (of others) in time or space
    "She led the pack in the marathon";
    - precede
     
13. Cause something to lie along a particular path
    "lead the wire behind the cabinet";
    - run
     
14. Preside over
    "John led the discussion";
    - moderate, chair

1. An advantage held by a competitor in a race
   "he took the lead at the last turn"
    
2. Evidence pointing to a possible solution
   "the police are following a promising lead";
   - track, trail
    
3. A position of being the initiator of something and an example that others will follow (especially in the phrase ‘take the lead’)
   "they didn't follow our lead"; "he takes the lead in any group"; "we were just waiting for someone to take the lead"
    
4. The angle between the direction a gun is aimed and the position of a moving target (correcting for the flight time of the missile)
   "The hunter calculated the lead needed to hit the flying bird"
    
5. The introductory section of a news story
   "it was an amusing lead-in to a very serious matter";
   - lead-in, lede [N. Amer]
    
6. (sport) the score by which a team or individual is winning
   "The home team maintained a comfortable lead throughout the second half"
    
7. An actor who plays a principal role
   "She landed the lead in the Broadway production";
   - star, principal
    
8. (baseball) the position taken by a base runner preparing to advance to the next base
   "he took a long lead off first"
    
9. An indication of potential opportunity
   "a good lead for a job";
   - tip, steer, wind, hint
    
10. A news story of major importance
    "The presidential election was the lead story on every news channel";
    - lead story
     
11. The timing of ignition relative to the position of the piston in an internal-combustion engine
    "Adjusting the lead improved the engine's performance";
    - spark advance
     
12. Restraint consisting of a rope (or light chain) used to restrain an animal
    "The horse was secured to a post with a lead";
    - leash, tether
     
13. A heavy electrical cable used to transfer power from one vehicle battery to another
    "He a lead to jump-start the dead battery";
    - jumper cable [N. Amer], jumper lead [N. Amer], booster cable [N. Amer], jump lead [Brit]
     
14. The playing of a card to start a trick in bridge
    "the lead was in the dummy"

1. A soft heavy toxic malleable bluish-white metallic element that tarnishes to dull grey
   "the children were playing with lead soldiers"; "Lead[2] was once commonly used in paint and plumbing";
   - Pb, atomic number 82
    
2. Mixture of graphite with clay in different degrees of hardness; the marking substance in a pencil
   "She preferred a softer pencil lead for her sketches";
   - pencil lead
    
3. Thin strip of metal used to separate lines of type in printing
   - leading[2]

Sounds like: leaching, leechlead or lead, llead

Derived forms: leads, leading, led

Type of: act, actor, advance, advantage, angle, be, black lead, boost, bring about, carbon group element, cause, conducting wire, constraint, counsel, counseling [US], counselling [Brit, Cdn], crystallogen, direct, direction, discuss, do, encourage, evidence, execute, exist, further, get, give rise, go, graphite, grounds, Group 14 element, guidance, hash out, have, histrion [archaic], induce, jumper, leadership, leading, locomote, make, metal, metallic element, move, news article, news story, newspaper article, pass, perform, place, play, player, plumbago, position, produce, promote, restraint, role player, score, section, slip, stimulate, strip, subdivision, talk over, tetragen, tetrel, thesp [Brit, informal], thespian, timing, travel, turn, vantage, wire

Antonym: deficit, follow

Part of: card game, cards, cerussite, galena, lead pencil, news article, news story, newspaper article, white lead ore

Encyclopedia: Lead, SD