lead
Usage
What are other ways to say lead?
To lead is to bring onward in a course, guiding by contact or by going in advance; hence, figuratively, to influence or induce to some course of conduct: to lead a procession; to lead astray. Guide implies continuous presence or agency in showing or indicating a course: to guide a traveler. To conduct is to precede or escort them to a place, sometimes with a degree of ceremony: to conduct a guest to his room. To direct is to give information for guidance, or instructions or orders for a course of procedure: to direct someone to the station.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Those who do, he said, should buy more from the U.S.—“We have plenty”—and take the lead on reopening the strait.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 4, 2026
Zelinger’s experience at Palantir would later lead him to co-found the startup Closure Intelligence, a digital-analyst platform for law-enforcement agencies.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 4, 2026
It's paramount that astronauts work out: the microgravity environment takes stress off bones and muscles, which can lead to significant loss without precautions.
From Barron's • Apr. 4, 2026
But the visitors showed they were up for the fight from minute one, disrupting Northampton's attacks and showing how dangerous they could be with possession as they raced into a 12-0 lead.
From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026
Up until then everything that had happened had made my old heart as heavy as lead, but when the little mare gave me that push it just hauled off and melted.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
