lead

Ⅰ.

lead [1] ► VERB (past and past part. led) 1) cause (a person or animal) to go with one, especially by drawing them along or by preceding them to a destination. 2) be a route or means of access: the street led into the square. 3) (lead to) result in. 4) influence to do or believe something: that may lead them to reconsider. 5) be in charge of. 6) have the advantage in a race or game. 7) be superior to (a competitor). 8) have or experience (a particular way of life). 9) (often lead (off) with) begin with a particular action or item. 10) (lead up to) precede or result in. 11) (lead on) deceive (someone) into believing that one is attracted to them. 12) (in card games) play (the first card) in a trick or round of play.

► NOUN 1) the initiative in an action: others followed our lead. 2) (the lead) a position of advantage in a contest; first place. 3) an amount by which a competitor is ahead of the others: a one-goal lead. 4) the chief part in a play or film. 5) (before another noun ) playing the chief part in a musical group: the lead singer. 6) (before another noun ) denoting the principal item in a report or text: the lead article. 7) a clue to be followed in the resolution of a problem. 8) Brit. a strap or cord for restraining and guiding a dog. 9) a wire conveying electric current from a source to an appliance, or connecting two points of a circuit together. 10) (in card games) an act or the right of playing first in a trick or round of play.

● lead astray — Cf. ↑lead astray

● lead up the garden path — Cf. ↑lead up the garden path

● lead with one's chin — Cf. ↑lead with one's chin

ORIGIN Old English, related to LOAD(Cf. ↑loader) and LODE(Cf. ↑lode).

Ⅱ.

lead [2] ► NOUN 1) a heavy bluish-grey soft ductile metallic element. 2) graphite used as the part of a pencil that makes a mark. 3) Printing a blank space between lines of print (originally created by a metal strip). 4) Nautical a lump of lead suspended on a line to determine the depth of water. 5) (leads) Brit. sheets or strips of lead covering a roof. 6) (leads) lead frames holding the glass of a lattice or stained-glass window.

● go down like a lead balloon — Cf. ↑go down like a lead balloon

ORIGIN Old English.