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Pronunciation Guide
HOW TO PRONOUNCE

lead

/lɛd/

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What does lead mean?

noun

  1. A heavy, pliable, inelastic metal element, having a bright, bluish color, but easily tarnished; both malleable and ductile, though with little tenacity. It is easily fusible, forms alloys with other metals, and is an ingredient of solder and type metal. Atomic number 82.
  2. A plummet or mass of lead attached to a line, used in sounding depth at sea or to estimate velocity in knots.
  3. A thin strip of type metal, used to separate lines of type in printing.
More meanings (63)

noun

  1. Vertical space in advance of a row or between rows of text. Also known as leading.
  2. Sheets or plates of lead used as a covering for roofs.
  3. A roof covered with lead sheets or terne plates.
  4. A thin cylinder of graphite used in pencils.
  5. (slang) Bullets; ammunition.
  6. X-ray protective clothing lined with lead.
  7. The act of leading or conducting; guidance; direction, course
  8. Precedence; advance position; also, the measure of precedence; the state of being ahead in a race; the highest score in an incomplete game.
  9. An insulated metallic wire for electrical devices and equipment.
  10. The situation where a runner steps away from a base while waiting for the pitch to be thrown.
  11. The act or right of playing first in a game or round; the card suit, or piece, so played
  12. The main role in a play or film; the lead role.
  13. The actor who plays the main role; lead actor.
  14. The person in charge of a project or a work shift etc.
  15. A channel of open water in an ice field.
  16. A lode.
  17. The course of a rope from end to end.
  18. A rope, leather strap, or similar device with which to lead an animal; a leash
  19. In a steam engine, the width of port opening which is uncovered by the valve, for the admission or release of steam, at the instant when the piston is at end of its stroke.
  20. The distance of haul, as from a cutting to an embankment.
  21. The action of a tooth, such as a tooth of a wheel, in impelling another tooth or a pallet.
  22. Hypothesis that has not been pursued
  23. Information obtained by a detective or police officer that allows him or her to discover further details about a crime or incident.
  24. Potential opportunity for a sale or transaction, a potential customer.
  25. Information obtained by a news reporter about an issue or subject that allows him or her to discover more details.
  26. The player who throws the first two rocks for a team.
  27. The introductory paragraph or paragraphs of a newspaper, or a news or other type of article. (Sometimes spelled as lede for this usage to avoid ambiguity.)
  28. An important news story that appears on the front page of a newspaper or at the beginning of a news broadcast
  29. The axial distance a screw thread travels in one revolution. It is equal to the pitch times the number of starts.
  30. In a barbershop quartet, the person who sings the melody, usually the second tenor.
  31. The announcement by one voice part of a theme to be repeated by the other parts.
  32. A mark or a short passage in one voice part, as of a canon, serving as a cue for the entrance of others.
  33. A primary synth, often composed of square, sawtooth, triangle or sine waveforms.
  34. The excess above a right angle in the angle between two consecutive cranks, as of a compound engine, on the same shaft.
  35. The angle between the line joining the brushes of a continuous-current dynamo and the diameter symmetrical between the poles.
  36. The advance of the current phase in an alternating circuit beyond that of the electromotive force producing it.

verb

  1. To cover, fill, or affect with lead.
  2. To guide or conduct with the hand, or by means of some physical contact connection.
  3. To guide or conduct in a certain course, or to a certain place or end, by making the way known; to show the way, especially by going with or going in advance of; to guide somebody somewhere or to bring somebody somewhere by means of instructions.
  4. (figuratively) To direct; to counsel; to instruct.
  5. To conduct or direct with authority; to have direction or charge of; to command, especially a military or business unit.
  6. To draw or direct by influence, whether good or bad; to prevail on; to induce; to entice; to allure.
  7. To influence towards a belief, a conclusion, etc.
  8. To guide or conduct, as by accompanying, going before, showing, influencing, directing with authority, etc.; to have precedence or preeminence; to be first or chief; — used in most of the senses of the transitive verb.
  9. To go or to be in advance of; to precede; hence, to be foremost or chief among.
  10. To proceed in front of others; to go first.
  11. To be more advanced in technology or business than others.
  12. To begin a game, round, or trick, with
  13. To be ahead of others, e.g., in a race.
  14. To have the highest interim score in a game.
  15. To step off base and move towards the next base.
  16. To aim in front of a moving target, in order that the shot may hit the target as it passes.
  17. To lead climb.
  18. To tend or reach in a certain spatial direction, or to a certain place.
  19. To be a cause of.
  20. To live or experience (a particular way of life).
  21. Used in phrasal verbs: lead off, lead on, lead out, lead to (“be the cause of, bring about”), lead up, lead up to.
  22. Misspelling of led.
  23. (historical) To place leads between the lines of.

adjective

  1. Foremost.
  2. Main, principal, primary, first, chief, foremost.

proper noun

  1. A civil parish in North Yorkshire, England.
  2. A city in Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States.
Wiktionary contributors Wiktionary contributors

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/lɛd/

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗

Other dictionary pronunciations

/lid/
CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

But they would lead us too far into the regions of futurity, and would involve topics not proper for a newspaper discussion.
Alexander Hamilton; John Jay; James MadisonThe Federalist PapersProject Gutenberg ebook #18
The weight of the earth is found by comparing a mass of known lead with that of a mass of unknown lead.
Mark TwainWhat Is Man? and Other EssaysProject Gutenberg ebook #70
More book examples (3)
Even in November they feared to work by day, lest the sun’s rays acting on the gun-cotton might lead to unhappy results.
Jules VerneFrom the Earth to the moon; and, round the moonProject Gutenberg ebook #83
Know, my hearts, I hope well of tomorrow, and will lead you Where rather I’ll expect victorious life Than death and honour.
William ShakespeareThe Complete Works of William ShakespeareProject Gutenberg ebook #100
Study and investigation of this strange idiom lead to the mysterious point of intersection of regular society with society which is accursed.
Victor HugoLes MisérablesTranslated by Isabel Florence HapgoodProject Gutenberg ebook #135