lead 1] [leads plural & 3rd person present] [leading present participle] [led past tense & past participle ] [BEING AHEAD OR TAKING SOMEONE SOMEWHERE]
Please look at category 21 to see if the expression you are looking for is shown under another headword.
1 verb If you lead a group of people, you walk or ride in front of them.
John Major and the Duke of Edinburgh led the mourners... V n
He walks with a stick but still leads his soldiers into battle... V n prep/adv
Tom was leading, a rifle slung over his back. V
2 verb If you lead someone to a particular place or thing, you take them there.
He took Dickon by the hand to lead him into the house... V n prep/adv
Leading the horse, Evandar walked to the door. V n
3 verb If a road, gate, or door leads somewhere, you can get there by following the road or going through the gate or door.
...the doors that led to the yard. V prep/adv
...a short roadway leading to the car park... V prep/adv
4 verb If you are leading at a particular point in a race or competition, you are winning at that point.
He's leading in the presidential race... V
So far Fischer leads by five wins to two... V by amount
Aston Villa last led the League in March 1990. V n
5 n-sing If you have thelead or are in thelead in a race or competition, you are winning.
the N, oft in/into the N
England took the lead after 31 minutes with a goal by Peter Nail..., Labour are still in the lead in the opinion polls.
6 n-sing Someone's lead over a competitor at a particular point in a race or competition is the distance, amount of time, or number of points by which they are ahead of them.
with supp, oft N over n
...a commanding lead for the opposition is clearly emerging throughout the country..., His goal gave Forest a two-goal lead against Southampton..., Sainz now has a lead of 28 points.
7 verb If one company or country leads others in a particular activity such as scientific research or business, it is more successful or advanced than they are in that activity.
When it comes to pop music we not only lead Europe, we lead the world. V n
...foodstores such as Marks & Spencer, which led the market in microwaveable meals. V n in n
8 verb If you lead a group of people, an organization, or an activity, you are in control or in charge of the people or the activity.
Mr Mendes was leading a campaign to save Brazil's rainforest from exploitation. V n
9 n-count If you give a lead , you do something new or develop new ideas or methods that other people consider to be a good example or model to follow.
usu supp N
The American and Japanese navies took the lead in the development of naval aviation..., Over the next 150 years, many others followed his lead.
10 verb You can use lead when you are saying what kind of life someone has. For example, if you lead a busy life, your life is busy.
She led a normal, happy life with her sister and brother... V n
11 verb If something leadsto a situation or event, usually an unpleasant one, it begins a process which causes that situation or event to happen.
Ethnic tensions among the republics could lead to civil war... V to n
He warned yesterday that a pay rise for teachers would lead to job cuts. V to n
12 verb If something leads you to do something, it influences or affects you in such a way that you do it.
His abhorrence of racism led him to write The Algiers Motel Incident... V n to-inf
What was it ultimately that led you to leave Sarajevo for Zagreb? V n to-inf
13 verb If you say that someone or something led you to think something, you mean that they caused you to think it, although it was not true or did not happen.
Mother had led me to believe the new baby was a kind of present for me... V n to-inf
It was not as straightforward as we were led to believe. V n to-inf
14 verb If you lead a conversation or discussion, you control the way that it develops so that you can introduce a particular subject.
After a while I led the conversation around to her job... V n adv/prep
He planned to lead the conversation and keep Matt from changing the subject. V n
15 verb You can say that one point or topic in a discussion or piece of writing leads you to another in order to introduce a new point or topic that is linked with the previous one. [=bring]
Well, I think that leads me to the real point. V n to n
16 n-count A lead is a piece of information or an idea which may help people to discover the facts in a situation where many facts are not known, for example in the investigation of a crime or in a scientific experiment.
The inquiry team is also following up possible leads after receiving 400 calls from the public.
17 n-count Thelead in a play, film, or show is the most important part in it. The person who plays this part can also be called the lead .
Nina Ananiashvili and Alexei Fadeyechev from the Bolshoi Ballet dance the leads..., The leads are Jack Hawkins and Glynis Johns.
18 n-count A dog's lead is a long, thin chain or piece of leather which you attach to the dog's collar so that you can control the dog.
[mainly BRIT]
An older man came out with a little dog on a lead.
in AM, use leash
19 n-count A lead in a piece of equipment is a piece of wire covered in plastic which supplies electricity to the equipment or carries it from one part of the equipment to another.
20 n-sing The lead story or lead in a newspaper or on the television or radio news is the most important story.
oft N n
The Turkish situation makes the lead in tomorrow's Guardian..., Cossiga's reaction is the lead story in the Italian press.
21
→ leading
→ -led
→ to lead someone astray
→ astray
→ one thing led to another
→ thing
→ to lead the way
→ way lead off
1 phrasal verb If a door, room, or path leads off a place or leads offfrom a place, you can go directly from that place through that door, into that room, or along that path.
There were two doors leading off the central room... V P n
The treatment rooms lead off from the swimming pool... V P from n
A corridor led off to the left. V P prep
2 phrasal verb If someone leads off in an activity, meeting, or conversation, they start it. [=start off]
Whenever there was a dance he and I led off... V P
Boren surprisingly led off the most intensive line of questioning today. V P n [not pron] lead on phrasal verb If someone leads you on, they encourage you to do something, especially by pretending that something is true.
I bet she led him onbut how could he be so weak? V n P lead up to
1 phrasal verb The events that led up to a particular event happened one after the other until that event occurred.
Alan Tomlinson has reconstructed the events that led up to the deaths... V P P n
They had a series of arguments, leading up to a decision to separate. V P P n
→ lead-up
2 phrasal verb The period of time leading up to an event is the period of time immediately before it happens.
usu cont
...the weeks leading up to Christmas. V P P n
3 phrasal verb If someone leads up to a particular subject, they gradually guide a conversation to a point where they can introduce it.
I'm leading up to something quite important. V P P n
- quarterback v. lead; run
- Regulator of Emergencies Medical Doctor n. physician in charge in a SAMU medical Regulation center of evaluation of , calssification , sorting Medical Emergencies, and deciding of the prehospital best emergency care
called also Medical Regulator and different of English Medical Dispatchers who are not physicians
- acquittal n. 1. the discharge or release of a person appearing in court of all criminal charges because they have been found not guilty. 2. a release from an obligation, duty, or debt.
E.g After the clear acquittal from the judge, he had to start his life all over again.
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