From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lead has two different pronunciations and several different meanings, usually related to either the chemical element lead (a heavy metal) or the verb to lead.

When pronounced /ˈlɛd/ (rhymes with "bed")

With this pronunciation, "lead" refers to:

• lead, the chemical element
• pencil lead, which is actually graphite but appears similar to oxidized lead metal
• sounding line or lead line ("the lead"), to measure water depth, in navigation

The past tense of the verb to lead is led, pronounced /ˈlɛd/. It is often misspelled as lead.

See also: Leading in typography

When pronounced /ˈliːd/ (rhymes with "need")

With this pronunciation, "lead" generally means "first", "ahead", or "guide":

• lead, the amount of distance aimed in front of a moving target
• lead, the first part of every orthographic syllable in Hangul, also known as "initial"
• lead actor or lead actress
• lead and follow, the direction or guidance one partner communicates to the other
• lead compound, a chemical compound in drug discovery (not necessarily with lead the metal)
• lead (electronics), a metallic wire for electrical devices and equipments
• lead (engineering)
• lead (geology), a subsurface feature with the potential to have entrapped oil or gas
• lead instrument, such as lead guitar
• lead-lag compensator, a component in a control system
• lead (leash)
• lead (leg), the leg that advances most in a quadruped's cantering or galloping stride
• lead (news) (or lede), the leading news story or leading part of a news story
• lead off, in baseball, a baserunner's position from the base he occupies
• lead paragraph, the opening paragraph of an article
• lead (sea ice), a temporary stretch of open water in arctic ice
• lead singer
• lead (steam engine), a valve timing parameter
• lead (tack)
• news lead, a tip or clue that may lead to the uncovering of newsworthy information
• pay per lead, a method of marketing
• sales lead, a potential customer

As a name

• Lead (band)
• Lead, South Dakota (pronounced [liːd]), a city in the United States

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

From LoveToKnow 1911

There is more than one meaning of Lead discussed in the 1911 Encyclopedia. We are planning to let all links go to the correct meaning directly, but for now you will have to search it out from the list below by yourself. If you want to change the link that led you here yourself, it would be appreciated.

• Lead
• Lead, South Dakota