Lead (verb, /liːd/) — to be in charge of a group or activity; to go ahead of others; to cause a particular result. She leads a team of engineers.
Lead (noun, /liːd/) — the most important or front position; a clue or advantage; the main role in a film or play. Our side took an early lead.
Lead (noun, /lɛd/) — a heavy, soft, grey metal (chemical symbol Pb), used in batteries and historically in pipes and paint. The old pipes were made of lead.
What Does Lead Mean?
Lead is one of English's most versatile — and most confusing — words. As a verb, it comes from Old English lædan, meaning to guide or cause to go, and has been in continuous use since before the 12th century. As a noun referring to the metal, it comes from a completely separate Old English word, also spelled lead, from Proto-Germanic lauda. The two have always shared a spelling, which is the origin of the notorious spelling trap with the past tense.
In everyday use, the verb lead carries three main ideas: direction (she led us to the exit), authority (he leads the department), and causation (stress can lead to illness). The causation meaning — lead to — is especially important in academic and professional writing, where it signals cause-and-effect reasoning.
The noun lead most often appears in competitive or professional contexts: take the lead, hold a lead, the lead story, follow someone's lead. In British English it also means a dog's leash (keep your dog on a lead) and an electrical cable (plug in the lead).
Example Sentences
| Sentence | Level & note |
|---|---|
| She took the lead and walked to the front of the group. | A2 — noun, front position |
| Who leads the science club at your school? | B1 — verb, be in charge |
| She took the lead in the group discussion and organised the debate clearly. | B1 — noun, initiative in a task |
| Poor sleep can lead to serious problems with concentration and mood. | B2 — verb, cause and effect structure |
| The investigation led investigators to conclude that long-term exposure to lead in the water supply had contributed to rising health disparities across the district. | C1 — verb + metal noun, complex clause |
Collocations
| Collocation | Example |
|---|---|
| take the lead | Someone needs to take the lead on this project. |
| lead by example | Good managers lead by example, not just by instruction. |
| lead to | Regular exercise can lead to better sleep. |
| lead a team | She has been leading the research team for three years. |
| follow someone's lead | The rest of the class followed her lead and sat down quietly. |
| hold a lead | The home side held a two-goal lead at half time. |
| lead the way | British scientists led the way in developing the vaccine. |
| a commanding lead | After five rounds she had a commanding lead over her rivals. |
| lead a discussion | The tutor asked a student to lead the discussion. |
| the lead story | The ceasefire was the lead story on every news channel. |
Usage Notes
- lead to + noun/gerund — use this structure to express cause and effect: Overwork leads to burnout. Practising daily leads to improvement.
- lead vs. lead — the verb present tense and the metal noun share the same spelling but have different pronunciations: verb = /liːd/, metal = /lɛd/.
- lead vs. led — the past tense of the verb is led (/lɛd/), not lead. This is the single most common mistake made by native and non-native writers alike.
- British English note — in British English, a dog's leash is a lead; in American English it is a leash. An electrical connection cable is also called a lead in British English.
- lead + infinitive vs. lead to + gerund — both are possible: This led me to question the results (infinitive); This led to questioning the results (gerund after to).
Common Mistakes
Watch Out For
She leaded the team to victory last season.
She led the team to victory last season. (past tense = led, not leaded)
Hard work will lead to succeeding in your exams.
Hard work will lead to success in your exams. (lead to + noun, not gerund)
The results lead me to believe the hypothesis is wrong. (when describing a past event)
The results led me to believe the hypothesis was wrong. (past tense required)
Etymology
The verb lead descends from Old English lædan (to guide, bring forward, carry), which is related to Old High German leiten and Old Norse leiða. The underlying root is Proto-Germanic *laidijanan, connected to the word for road or way. The noun sense of "front position" developed naturally from the verb. The unrelated metal noun lead comes from Old English lēad, from Proto-Germanic *lauda-, possibly borrowed from a Celtic language. The identical spelling of two etymologically unrelated words is a coincidence of English orthographic history.