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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
   - 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
    
10. (music) 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
    - 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, mod [informal]

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')
   "he takes the lead in any group"; "we were just waiting for someone to take the lead"; "they didn't follow our 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)
    
5. The introductory section of a story
   "it was an amusing lead-in to a very serious matter";
   - lead-in, lede
    
6. (sport) the score by which a team or individual is winning
    
7. An actor who plays a principal role
   - 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, confidential information, wind, hint
    
10. A news story of major importance
    - lead story
     
11. The timing of ignition relative to the position of the piston in an internal-combustion engine
    - spark advance
     
12. Restraint consisting of a rope (or light chain) used to restrain an animal
    - leash, tether
     
13. A jumper that consists of a short piece of wire
    "it was a tangle of jumper cables and clip leads";
    - 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 metallic element; bluish white when freshly cut but tarnishes readily to dull grey
   "the children were playing with lead soldiers";
   - Pb, atomic number 82
    
2. Mixture of graphite with clay in different degrees of hardness; the marking substance in a pencil
   - 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: leading, led, leads

Type of: 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, further, get, give rise, go, graphite, grounds, Group 14 element, guidance, hash out, have, histrion, induce, jumper, leadership, leading, locomote, make, make pass, 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, thespian, timing, travel, turn, vantage, wire

Antonym: deficit

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

Encyclopedia: Lead, SD