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leader

 - 10 dictionary results

lead⋅er

  [lee-der]
Use leader in a Sentence
–noun
1. a person or thing that leads.
2. a guiding or directing head, as of an army, movement, or political group.
3. Music.
a. a conductor or director, as of an orchestra, band, or chorus.
b. the player at the head of the first violins in an orchestra, the principal cornetist in a band, or the principal soprano in a chorus, to whom any incidental solos are usually assigned.
4. a featured article of trade, esp. one offered at a low price to attract customers. Compare loss leader.
5. Journalism.
a. leading article (def. 1).
b. Also called leading article. British. the principal editorial in a newspaper.
6. blank film or tape at the beginning of a length of film or magnetic tape, used for threading a motion-picture camera, tape recorder, etc. Compare trailer (def. 6).
7. Angling.
a. a length of nylon, silkworm gut, wire, or the like, to which the lure or hook is attached.
b. the net used to direct fish into a weir, pound, etc.
8. a pipe for conveying rain water downward, as from a roof; downspout.
9. a horse harnessed at the front of a team.
10. leaders, Printing. a row of dots or a short line to lead the eye across a space.
11. Nautical. lead 1 (def. 40b).
12. a duct for conveying warm air from a hot-air furnace to a register or stack.
13. Mining. a thin vein of ore connected with a large vein.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME leder(e). See lead 1 , -er 1

Related forms:
lead⋅er⋅less, adjective

lead

1  [leed] verb, led, lead⋅ing, noun, adjective
–verb (used with object)
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)
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 fol. 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 fol. 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.
a. the principal part in a play.
b. the person who plays it.
36. Cards.
a. the act or right of playing first, as in a round.
b. the card, suit, etc., so played.
37. Journalism.
a. a short summary serving as an introduction to a news story, article, or other copy.
b. the main and often most important news story.
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.
a. the direction of a rope, wire, or chain.
b. Also called leader. any of various devices for guiding a running rope.
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.
a. a lode.
b. an auriferous deposit in an old riverbed.
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.
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,
a. to take the initiative; begin.
b. Baseball. to be the first player in the batting order or the first batter in an inning.
52. lead on,
a. to induce to follow an unwise course of action; mislead.
b. to cause or encourage to believe something that is not true.
53. lead out,
a. to make a beginning.
b. to escort a partner to begin a dance: He led her out and they began a rumba.
—Idioms
54. lead someone a chase or dance, to cause someone difficulty by forcing to do irksome or unnecessary things.
55. lead the way. way (def. 35).
56. lead up to,
a. to prepare the way for.
b. to approach (a subject, disclosure, etc.) gradually or evasively: I could tell by her allusions that she was leading up to something.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME leden, OE lǣdan (causative of līthan to go, travel); c. D leiden, G leiten, ON leitha

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

Antonyms:
1. follow.

lead

2  [led]
–noun
1. Chemistry. a heavy, comparatively soft, malleable, bluish-gray metal, sometimes found in its natural state but usually combined as a sulfide, esp. 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. black lead 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, esp. one that is shallow or flat, covered with lead.
10. white lead.
–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.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME lede, OE lēad; c. D lood, OFris lād lead, G Lot plummet

Related forms:
leadless, adjective

Synonyms:
3. weight, plumb.

leading article

  [lee-ding]
–noun Journalism.
1. Also called leader. the most important or prominent news story in a newspaper.
2. British. leader (def. 5b).
Origin:
1800–10
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To leader
lead·er   (lē'dər)   
n.  

  1. One that leads or guides.

  2. One who is in charge or in command of others.

    1. One who heads a political party or organization.

    2. One who has influence or power, especially of a political nature.

    3. A conductor, especially of orchestra, band, or choral group.

    4. The principal performer in an orchestral section or a group.

  4. Music

    1. A conductor, especially of orchestra, band, or choral group.

    2. The principal performer in an orchestral section or a group.

  5. The foremost animal, such as a horse or dog, in a harnessed team.

  6. A loss leader.

  7. Chiefly British The main editorial in a newspaper.

  8. leaders Printing Dots or dashes in a row leading the eye across a page, as in an index entry.

  9. A pipe for conducting liquid.

  10. A short length of gut, wire, or similar material by which a hook is attached to a fishing line.

  11. A blank strip at the end or beginning of a film or tape used in threading or winding.

  12. Botany The growing apex or main shoot of a shrub or tree.

  13. An economic indicator.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

lead  (v.)
"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 c.1380. The noun is first recorded c.1300, "action of leading." Meaning "the front or leading place" is from 1570. Johnson stigmatized it as "a low, despicable word." Sense in card-playing is from 1742; in theater, from 1831; in journalism, from 1927; in jazz bands, from 1934. Leader "one who leads" is from c.1300; as shortened form of leading article (1807) "prominent newspaper piece giving editorial opinion" it dates from 1837. Leadership first attested 1821.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Financial Dictionary

leader

An active stock that tends to lead the general market in price movements. For example, strength and activity may have made a stock a leader in a recent upward market movement.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms by David L. Scott.
Copyright © 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: lead
Function: noun
: something serving as a tip, indication, or clue lead in the murder investigation>
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 2lead
Pronunciation: 'led
Function: noun
often attributive 1 : a heavy soft malleable ductile plastic but inelasticbluish white metallic element found mostly in combination and used especially in pipes, cable sheaths, batteries, solder, type metal, and shields against radioactivity —symbol Pb;—see ELEMENT table
2 : WHITELEAD
3 : TETRAETHYL LEAD
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

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.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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