lead (1) — OAT

lead1

(rhymes with ‘feed’)

verb

1 Michelle let them lead her into the porch:

guide, conduct, show, show someone the way, lead the way, usher, escort, steer, pilot, marshal, shepherd;

accompany, see, take, help, assist.

▷antonyms follow.

2 we are led to believe that lack of finance is to blame:

cause, induce, prompt, move, persuade, sway, influence, prevail on, bring around, make willing, motivate, drive, condition, determine, make, impel, give, force;

incline, dispose, predispose, bias.

3 they feared that the Marshall Plan would lead to Germany's industrial revival:

result in, cause, bring on, bring about, call forth, give rise to, be the cause of, make happen, create, produce, occasion, effect, engender, generate, contribute to, be conducive to, add to, be instrumental in, have a hand in, have a part in, help, promote, advance;

precipitate, hasten, accelerate, quicken, push forward, prompt, expedite, further, speed up;

provoke, stir up, spark off, trigger (off), set off, touch off, arouse, rouse, excite, foment, instigate;

cost, involve, necessitate, invite, risk, elicit, entail;

rare effectuate, conduce to.

4 he intended to lead a march to the city center:

be at the head of, be at the front of, head, spearhead.

▷antonyms follow.

5 a military delegation was led by the Chief of Staff:

be the leader of, be the head of, preside over, hold sway over, head;

command, direct, govern, rule, be in charge of, be in command of, be in control of, have control of, have charge of, regulate, supervise, superintend, oversee, chair, run, mastermind, orchestrate, control, conduct, guide, be at the helm of, take the chair of;

administer, organize, manage;

dominate, master, reign over, domineer, be in power over;

informal head up, run the show, call the shots.

▷antonyms serve in.

6 Federer was leading by 2 sets to 1:

be ahead, be winning, be in front, be out in front, be in the lead, be first, come first.

▷antonyms be losing, lose.

7 the champion steeplechaser was leading the field as usual:

be at the front of, be first in, be ahead of, head;

outdistance, outrun, outstrip, outpace, leave behind, get (further) ahead of, draw away from, shake off;

outdo, excel, exceed, surpass, outclass, transcend, top, trump, cap, beat, better;

widen the gap;

informal leave standing, walk away from, run rings around;

archaic outrival, outvie.

▷antonyms follow, trail.

8 right now, all I want is to lead a normal life:

experience, have, live, pass, spend, undergo.

9 a path through the park leads to the beach:

open onto, give onto, connect with/to, provide a route to, communicate with.

□ lead something off

they watched his dramatic announcement lead off the Nine O'Clock News:

begin, start, start off, open, get going;

informal kick off;

formal commence.

▷antonyms end, conclude.

□ lead someone on

he knew she was leading him on:

deceive, mislead, delude, hoodwink, dupe, trick, take in, fool, pull the wool over someone's eyes, gull;

ensnare, entrap, entice, allure, lure, beguile, inveigle, tempt, tantalize, tease, flirt with, seduce;

informal string along, lead up the garden path, take for a ride, put one over on.

□ lead the way

1 he led the way to the kitchen:

guide, conduct, show the way.

2 Orange County has led the way as a model for recycling water:

take the first step, initiate things, break (new) ground, blaze a trail, lay the foundation, lay the first stone, set in motion, prepare the way, set the ball rolling, take the initiative, make the first move, make a start;

develop, introduce, start, begin, launch, instigate, institute, originate.

▷antonyms follow.

□ lead up to

she wondered if he was leading up to suggesting that they go together:

prepare the way for, pave the way for, open the way for, lay the groundwork for, set the scene for;

work up to, make overtures about, make advances about, hint at, approach the subject of, introduce the subject of;

suggest, hint, imply.

noun

1 I found myself in the lead early in the back straight:

leading position, leading place, first place, advance position, van, vanguard;

ahead, in front, winning, leading the field, to the fore;

informal up front.

▷antonyms last, losing.

2 they took the lead in the personal computer market:

first position, head place, forefront, primacy, dominance, superiority, precedence, ascendancy;

preeminence, supremacy, advantage, edge, upper hand, whip hand;

head start.

▷antonyms last position.

3 the Kings opened up a 12-point lead over the San Jose Sharks:

winning margin, margin, gap, interval.

4 sixth-formers are supposed to give a lead to younger pupils:

example, model, pattern, exemplar, paradigm, standard of excellence;

role model.

5 she is going to be playing the lead in Glen's movie:

leading role, star/starring role, star part, title role, principal part;

star, principal character, male lead, female lead, leading man, leading lady, hero, heroine, protagonist.

▷antonyms bit part, extra.

6 British a Labrador on a lead:

leash, tether, rein, cord, rope, chain, line.

7 detectives were following up a new lead in their hunt for the killers:

clue, pointer, guide, hint, tip, tip-off, suggestion, indication, indicator, sign, signal, intimation, inkling;

(leads) evidence, information.

adjective

we lost the lead position due to a combination of circumstances:

leading, first, top, foremost, front, head;

chief, principal, main, most important, premier, paramount, prime, primary.

▷antonyms last.