~ 1 [ li:d ]
■ verb ( past and past participle led )
1》 cause (a person or animal) to go with one by drawing them along.
↘show (someone) the way to a destination by preceding or accompanying them.
↘( ~ someone on ) deceive someone into believing that one is attracted to them.
2》 (usu. ~ to ) be a route or means of access to a particular place.
↘culminate or result in.
↘( ~ someone to/to do something ) be someone's reason or motive for.
↘( ~ up to ) precede or provide an introduction to.
↘(often ~ (off) with ) begin a report or text with a particular item.
3》 be in charge or command of.
4》 have the advantage in a race or game.
↘be superior to (a competitor).
5》 have or experience (a particular way of life).
6》 ( ~ with ) Boxing make an attack with (a particular punch or fist).
7》 (in card games) play (the first card) in a trick or round of play.
■ noun
1》 the initiative in an action: Britain should be taking the environmental ~.
2》 ( the ~ ) a position of advantage in a contest; first place.
↘an amount by which a competitor is ahead of the others.
3》 the chief part in a play or film.
↘[as modifier ] playing the chief part in a musical group: the ~ singer.
↘[as modifier ] denoting the principal item in a report or text: the ~ article.
4》 a clue to be followed in the resolution of a problem.
5》 Brit. a strap or cord for restraining and guiding a dog.
6》 Brit. a wire conveying electric current from a source to an appliance, or connecting two points of a circuit together.
7》 the distance advanced by a screw in one turn.
8》 (in card games) an act or right of playing first in a trick or round of play.
9》 an artificial watercourse ~ing to a mill.
↘a channel of water in an ice field.
Phrases
~ someone astray cause someone to act or think foolishly or wrongly.
~ someone up (or down ) the garden path informal give someone mis~ing clues or signals.
~ with one's chin informal
1》 (of a boxer) leave one's chin unprotected.
2》 behave or speak incautiously.
Origin
OE ldan , of Gmc origin; related to load and lode .
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~ 2 [ lɛd ]
■ noun
1》 a heavy bluish-grey soft ductile metal, the chemical element of atomic number 82. (Symbol: Pb )
2》 graphite used as the part of a pencil that makes a mark.
3》 Printing a blank space between lines of print (originally created by a metal strip).
4》 Nautical a lump of ~ suspended on a line to determine the depth of water.
5》 ( ~s ) Brit. sheets or strips of ~ covering a roof.
6》 ( ~s ) ~ frames holding the glass of a lattice or stained-glass window.
Phrases
go down (or N. Amer. over ) like a ~ balloon informal (of a speech, proposal, or joke) be poorly received.
Origin
OE lēad , of W. Gmc origin.