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.
The New York Knicks lead the Eastern Conference Finals 3-0, a historically insurmountable advantage in the NBA.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 25, 2026
The body of a dead Ebola victim is highly infectious and can lead to the virus spreading further when prepared for burial.
From BBC • May 25, 2026
In Europe, higher inflation is widely expected to lead the European Central Bank to increase rates in the coming weeks, increasing borrowing costs even as economic growth remains subdued.
From Barron's • May 25, 2026
"Right away, I knew it was something really special," says Voight, curator emerita of invertebrates at the Field Museum in Chicago and the lead author of the study describing the new species.
From Science Daily • May 25, 2026
Jonah pressed his pencil down too hard on the sapiens part of homo sapiens, and the lead snapped.
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Vocabulary lists containing lead
Black and Gray
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Journalism
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Theater - Introductory
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