lead

lead¹ W1S1 [li:d] v past tense and past participle led [led]

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

1¦(take somebody somewhere)¦

2¦(go in front)¦

3¦(be in charge)¦

4¦(cause something to happen)¦

5¦(cause somebody to believe something)¦

6¦(influence)¦

7¦(be more successful)¦

8¦(be winning)¦

9¦(path/door etc)¦

10¦(life)¦

11¦(discussion etc)¦

12 lead somebody up the garden path

13 lead somebody astray

14 lead nowhere/not lead anywhere

15 lead by example

16 lead somebody by the nose

17 this/that leads (me) to something

18 somebody has their own life to lead

19 lead somebody a merry old dance/a right old dance

20 market-led/export-led etc

21 lead the eye

22¦(card game)¦

Phrasal verbs

　lead off

　lead somebody on

　lead on to something

　lead with something

　lead up to something

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[: Old English; Origin: lAdan]

1.) ¦(TAKE SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE)¦ [I and T]

to take someone somewhere by going in front of them while they follow, or by pulling them gently

lead sb to/into etc sth

▪ A nurse took her arm and led her to a chair.

▪ The horses were led to safety .

lead sb away/down etc

▪ She was led away from the courtroom in tears.

▪ The manager led the way through the office.

see usage note ↑direct²

2.) ¦(GO IN FRONT)¦ [I and T]

to go in front of a line of people or vehicles

▪ A firetruck was leading the parade.

3.) ¦(BE IN CHARGE)¦ [I and T]

to be in charge of an organization, country, or team, or a group of people who are trying to do something

▪ He has led the party for over twenty years.

▪ Some people say she is too old to lead the country (=be in charge of its government) .

▪ Beckham led his team to victory .

lead an investigation/inquiry/campaign

▪ The investigation will be led by Inspector Scarfe.

▪ They are leading a campaign to warn teenagers about the dangers of drug abuse.

lead a revolt/rebellion/coup etc

▪ The rebellion was led by the King's brother.

lead an attack/assault

▪ Nelson preferred to lead the attack himself from the front.

▪ a man who was born to lead

▪ a communist-led strike

4.) ¦(CAUSE SOMETHING TO HAPPEN)¦ [I and T]

to cause something to happen or cause someone to do something

lead to

▪ the events that led to the start of the First World War

▪ A degree in English could lead to a career in journalism.

lead sb into sth

▪ Her trusting nature often led her into trouble .

lead sb to do sth

▪ What led him to kill his wife?

lead to sb doing sth

▪ His actions could lead to him losing his job.

5.) ¦(CAUSE SOMEBODY TO BELIEVE SOMETHING)¦ [T]

to make someone believe something, especially something that is not true

lead sb to believe/expect/understand sth

▪ He had led everyone to believe that his family was very wealthy.

▪ The hotel was terrible, and not at all what we had been led to expect.

▪ Our research led us to the conclusion that the present system is unfair.

6.) ¦(INFLUENCE)¦ [T]

to influence someone to make them do something that is wrong

lead sb into sth

▪ His brother led him into a life of crime.

▪ He's not a bad boy. He's just easily led (=it is easy for other people to persuade him to do things that he should not do) .

7.) ¦(BE MORE SUCCESSFUL)¦ [T]

to be more successful than other people, companies, or countries in a particular activity

lead the world/market/pack/field

▪ US companies lead the world in biotechnology.

lead the way

(=be the first to do something, and show other people how to do it)

▪ The Swedes have led the way in data protection.

→↑leading¹ (1)

8.) ¦(BE WINNING)¦ [I and T]

to be winning a game, competition etc

≠ ↑lose

▪ At half-time, Brazil led 1-0.

▪ With 15 laps to go, Schumacher led the race.

▪ The polls showed Clinton leading Bush 55 percent to 34 percent.

lead by ten points/two goals etc

▪ Agassi was leading by two sets.

9.) ¦(PATH/DOOR ETC)¦ [I,T always + adverb/preposition]

used to say where a path, wire etc goes or what place is on the other side of a door

lead to/towards

▪ The path led down to a small lake.

lead from/out of

▪ the major artery leading from the heart

lead into

▪ the door leading into the hallway

lead sb to/into sth

▪ The riverside path leads visitors to a small chapel.

10.)¦(LIFE)¦ [T]

if you lead a particular kind of life, that is what your life is like

lead a normal/quiet/busy etc life

▪ If the operation succeeds, Carly will be able to lead a normal life.

▪ He has led a charmed life (=been very fortunate) .

lead a life of luxury/poverty etc

lead the life of a ...

▪ She now leads the life of a recluse.

lead a double life

(=deceive people by keeping different parts of your life separate and not letting anyone know the whole truth)

▪ Joe had been leading a double life, seeing an ex-model while his wife believed he was on business.

▪ They lead a nomadic existence .

11.) ¦(DISCUSSION ETC)¦ [T always + adverb/preposition]

to control the way a discussion, conversation etc develops

▪ I tried to lead the conversation back to the subject of money.

12.) lead sb up the garden path informal

to deliberately deceive someone

13.) lead sb astray

a) to encourage someone to do bad or immoral things, which they would not normally do

b) to make someone believe something that is not true

14.) lead nowhere/not lead anywhere

to not produce any useful result

▪ So far police investigations seem to have led nowhere.

15.) lead by example

to show the people you are in charge of what you want them to do by doing it yourself

▪ The best managers lead by example.

16.) lead sb by the nose

to influence someone so much that you can completely control everything that they do

▪ Politicians think they can easily lead people by the nose.

17.) this/that leads (me) to sth

used to introduce a new subject that is connected to the previous one

▪ That leads me to my final point. Where are we going to get the money?

18.) sb has their own life to lead

used to say that someone wants to be able to live their life independently, without having to do things that other people want them to do

19.) lead sb a merry old dance/a right old dance

BrE to cause a lot of problems or worries for someone

20.) market-led/export-led etc

most influenced by the market, by ↑export s etc

▪ an export-led economic recovery

21.) lead the eye

if a picture, view etc leads the eye in a particular direction, it makes you look in that direction

▪ marble columns that lead the eye upward

22.) ¦(CARD GAME)¦ [I and T]

to play a particular card as your first card in one part of a card game

lead off phr v

1.) to start a meeting, discussion, performance etc by saying or doing something

▪ I'd like to lead off by thanking Rick for coming.

lead off with

▪ The French team led off with two quick goals in the first five minutes.

lead sth<=>off

▪ Hal led the evening off with some folk songs.

2.) lead off (sth)

if a road, room etc leads off a place, you can go directly from that place along that road, into that room etc

lead off from sth

▪ He pointed down a street leading off from the square.

▪ a large room, with doors leading off it in all directions

3.) to be the first player to try to hit the ball in an ↑inning (=period of play) in a game of baseball

lead on [lead sb on] phr v

to deceive someone, especially to make them think you love them

▪ He thought she loved him, but in fact she was just leading him on.

lead on to [lead on to sth] phr v

to cause something to develop or become possible at a later time

▪ Alan Turing's work led onto the development of modern computers.

lead with [lead with sth] phr v

1.) if a newspaper or television programme leads with a particular story, that story is the main one

▪ The Washington Post leads with the latest news from Israel.

2.) to use a particular hand to begin an attack in ↑boxing, or a particular foot to begin a dance

▪ Adam led with his left and punched his opponent on the jaw.

lead up to [lead up to sth] phr v

1.) if a series of events or a period of time leads up to an event, it comes before it or causes it

▪ the weeks that led up to her death

▪ the events leading up to his dismissal

2.) to gradually introduce an embarrassing, upsetting, or surprising subject into a conversation

▪ She had already guessed what he was leading up to.

lead ²

lead² W2S2 n

1.) the lead

the first position in a race or competition

▪ She was in the lead from start to finish.

▪ The Canadians went into the lead after only 30 seconds.

▪ The goal put Holland into the lead .

▪ The Bears took the lead for the first time this season.

2.) [singular]

the amount or distance by which one competitor is ahead of another

▪ The Chicago Bulls had a narrow lead (=were winning by a small number of points) .

lead over

▪ The Socialists now have a commanding lead over their opponents.

3.) [singular]

if someone follows someone else's lead, they do the same as the other person has done

▪ Other countries are likely to follow the U.S.'s lead .

▪ The Government should give industry a lead in tackling racism (=show what other people should do) .

▪ The black population in the 1960s looked to Ali for a lead (=looked to him to show them what they should do) .

4.) take the lead (in doing sth)

to be the first to start doing something or be most active in doing something

▪ The U.S. took the lead in declaring war on terrorism.

5.)

a piece of information that may help you to solve a crime or mystery

= ↑clue

▪ The police have checked out dozens of leads, but have yet to find the killer.

6.)

the main acting part in a play, film etc, or the main actor

play the lead/the lead role

▪ He will play the lead role in Hamlet.

▪ Powers was cast in the lead role (=he was chosen to play it) .

the male/female lead

▪ They were having trouble casting the female lead.

▪ the film's romantic lead

7.) lead singer/guitarist etc

the main singer, ↑guitarist etc in a group

lead singer/guitarist etc of/with

▪ the lead singer of Nirvana

8.) BrE

a piece of rope, leather, or chain for holding or controlling a dog

= ↑leash on a lead

▪ All dogs must be kept on a lead.

9.) BrE

a wire used to connect a piece of electrical equipment to the power supply

American Equivalent: cord

→↑jump leads

lead ³

lead³ [led] n

↑lead

1.) [U]

a soft heavy grey metal that melts easily and is poisonous, used to cover roofs, or in the past, for water pipes. It is a chemical ↑element : symbol Pb

2.) [U and C]

the central part of a pencil that makes the marks when you write

3.) go down like a lead balloon informal

if a suggestion or joke goes down like a lead balloon, people do not like it at all

4.) [U] AmE old-fashioned bullets

▪ They filled him full of lead.

5.) leads [plural]

a) sheets of lead used for covering a roof

b) narrow pieces of lead used for holding small pieces of glass together to form a window