lead

Meaning

Noun

1. (uncountable) A heavy, pliable, inelastic metal element, having a bright, bluish color, but easily tarnished; both malleable and ductile, though with little tenacity. It is easily fusible, forms alloys with other metals, and is an ingredient of solder and type metal. Atomic number 82, symbol Pb (from Latin plumbum).
2. (countable) A plummet or mass of lead attached to a line, used in sounding depth at sea or (dated) to estimate velocity in knots.
3. (countable, uncountable) A thin strip of type metal, used to separate lines of type in printing.
4. (uncountable) Vertical space in advance of a row or between rows of text. Also known as leading.
5. (countable, uncountable) Sheets or plates of lead used as a covering for roofs.
6. (countable) A roof covered with lead sheets or terne plates.
7. (countable) A thin cylinder of graphite used in pencils.
8. (countable, slang, uncountable) Bullets; ammunition.
9. (countable, in-plural, uncountable) X-ray protective clothing lined with lead.

Verb

1. (transitive) To cover, fill, or affect with lead.
2. (historical, transitive) To place leads between the lines of.

Verb

1. (transitive) To guide or conduct.
2. (transitive) To guide or conduct.
3. (figuratively, transitive) To guide or conduct.
4. (transitive) To guide or conduct.
5. (transitive) To guide or conduct.
6. (transitive) To guide or conduct.
7. (intransitive) To guide or conduct, as by accompanying, going before, showing, influencing, directing with authority, etc.; to have precedence or preeminence; to be first or chief; — used in most of the senses of the transitive verb.
8. (transitive) To begin, to be ahead.
9. (intransitive) To begin, to be ahead.
10. (intransitive) To begin, to be ahead.
11. (transitive) To begin, to be ahead.
12. (intransitive) To begin, to be ahead.
13. (intransitive) To begin, to be ahead.
14. To begin, to be ahead.
15. To begin, to be ahead.
16. (transitive) To begin, to be ahead.
17. (intransitive) To tend or reach in a certain spatial direction, or to a certain place.
18. (intransitive) To be a cause of.
19. (transitive, usually) To live or experience (a particular way of life).
20. Used in phrasal verbs: lead off, lead on, lead out, lead to (“be the cause of, bring about”), lead up, lead up to.
21. (alt-of, misspelling) Misspelling of led.

Adj

1. (not-comparable) Foremost.
2. (not-comparable) Main, principal, primary, first, chief, foremost.

Verb

Misspelling of led.

Synonyms

guide

conduct

direct

head

bring

drive

take

manage

escort

precede

run

command

show the way

control

induce

carry

convey

steer

leadership

go

move

bring with

chair

🪑

leading

govern

leash

influence

preside

go first

clue

tin

guidance

graphite

spearhead

live

plumbum

tip

persuade

pilot

🧑‍✈️

conduce

first

1st

cause

hint

accompanied

handle

advance

rule

moderate

go ahead

result

Translations

plomb

leiden

führen

mener

Blei

conduire

plomo

piombo

chumbo

guider

leiten

condurre

diriger

lood

Pronounced as (IPA)

/lɛd/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: led

Inherited from Old English: lēad

Cognate with Scots: leid

Cognate with Northern Frisian: lud

Cognate with Western Frisian: lead

Cognate with Dutch: lood

Cognate with German: Lot

Cognate with Swedish: lod

Cognate with Icelandic: lóð

Cognate with Irish: luaidhe

Cognate with Latin: plumbum

Cognate with Finnish: luoti

Inherited from Middle English: leden

Inherited from Old English: lǣdan

Cognate with Western Frisian: liede

Cognate with Dutch: leiden

Cognate with German: leiten

Cognate with Danish: -

Cognate with Norwegian Bokmål: lede

Cognate with Norwegian Nynorsk: leia

Cognate with Swedish: leda

Cognate with Old English: līþan

In summary

From Middle English led, leed, from Old English lēad (“lead”), from Proto-West Germanic *laud (“lead”), possibly borrowed from Proto-Celtic *ɸloudom, from Proto-Indo-European *plewd- (“to flow”).
Cognate with Scots leid, lede (“lead”), North Frisian lud, luad (“lead”), West Frisian lead (“lead”), Dutch lood (“lead”), Low German Lod (“solder, plummet”), German Lot (“solder, plummet, sounding line”), Swedish lod (“solder, plummet”), Icelandic lóð (“a plumb, weight”), Irish luaidhe (“lead”) Latin plumbum (“lead”), Finnish luoti (“bullet”). Doublet of loth. More at flow.
* (graphite in a pencil): Graphite was once believed to be a form of lead; see black lead and plumbago.

Sentences

Eventually , Labour Party gained a solid lead over National .

Money is held for spending , and increases in money supplies lead to increased spending .

She also became the lead singer of a band named Kendix.

It has Ramsha Khan and Affan Waheed in lead roles .

Quantum deformations of the universal enveloping algebra lead to the notion of quantum groups .

These roadways lead to drop-off and pick-up areas and short and long-stay car parks .