<p><strong>Verb</strong></p><ul><li>(used with object) led, lead·ing.<ul><li>to go before or with to show the way; conduct or escort: to lead a group on a cross-country hike.</li><li>to conduct by holding and guiding: to lead a horse by a rope.</li><li>to influence or induce; cause: Subsequent events led him to reconsider his position.</li><li>to guide in direction, course, action, opinion, etc.; bring: You can lead her around to your point of view if you are persistent.</li><li>to conduct or bring (water, wire, etc.) in a particular course.</li><li>(of a road, passage, etc.) to serve to bring (a person) to a place: The first street on the left will lead you to Andrews Place.</li><li>to take or bring: The prisoners were led into the warden's office.</li><li>to command or direct (an army or other large organization): He led the Allied forces during the war.</li><li>to go at the head of or in advance of (a procession, list, body, etc.); proceed first in: The mayor will lead the parade.</li><li>to be superior to; have the advantage over: The first baseman leads his teammates in runs batted in.</li><li>to have top position or first place in: Iowa leads the nation in corn production.</li><li>to have the directing or principal part in: The minister will now lead us in prayer. He led a peace movement.</li><li>to act as leader of (an orchestra, band, etc.); conduct.</li><li>to go through or pass (time, life, etc.): to lead a full life.</li><li>(of a base runner) to leave a base before the delivery of a pitch in order to reach the next base more quickly (often followed by away).</li></ul></li></ul><p><strong>Noun</strong></p><ul><li>the first or foremost place; position in advance of others: He took the lead in the race.</li><li>the extent of such an advance position: He had a lead of four lengths.</li><li>a person or thing that leads.</li><li>a leash.</li><li>a suggestion or piece of information that helps to direct or guide; tip; clue: I got a lead on a new job.</li><li>a guide or indication of a road, course, method, etc., to follow.</li><li>precedence; example; leadership: They followed the lead of the capital in their fashions.</li><li>the principal part in a play; the person who plays it.</li><li>the act or right of playing first, as in a round.</li><li>(in journalism) lede.</li><li>(in electricity) an often flexible and insulated single conductor, as a wire, used in connections between pieces of electric apparatus.</li><li>an open channel through a field of ice.</li><li>(in naval architecture) the distance between the center of lateral resistance and the center of effort of a sailing ship, usually expressed decimally as a fraction of the water-line length.</li><li>a lode.</li><li>(in baseball) the act or instance of leading.</li></ul><p><strong>Adjective</strong></p><ul><li>most important; principal; leading; first: lead editorial; lead designer.</li><li>(in football) (of a forward pass) thrown ahead of the intended receiver so as to allow him to catch it while running.</li></ul>