leading light (ˈliːdɪŋ) ![]() | |
| —n | |
| 1. | an important or outstanding person, esp in an organization or cause |
| 2. | nautical a less common term for range light |
| a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal. |
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
leading light
An important or influential individual, as in Jim was a leading light in his community. This expression, alluding to moral guidance, dates from about 1870, but terms such as a shining light have been used for an outstanding person since the first half of the 1500s.