Dictionary

leading en · ADJ · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /ˈlidɪŋ/ (General-American)
• /ˈliːdɪŋ/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (General-American) audio

Etymology

From Middle English ledinge, ledynge, ledand, ledande, ledende, from Old English lǣdende, from Proto-West Germanic *laidijandī, from Proto-Germanic *laidijandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *laidijaną (“to lead”), equivalent to lead + -ing. Compare West Frisian liedend, Dutch leidend, German leitend, Swedish ledande, Icelandic leiðandi.

Meanings

1. (not-comparable) Providing guidance or direction.
   • Avoid leading questions if you really want the truth.
2. (not-comparable) Ranking first.
   • He is a leading supplier of plumbing supplies in the county.
3. (not-comparable) Occurring in advance; preceding.
   • The stock market can be a leading economic indicator.
   • Passengers on the earliest railway services would not even have enjoyed the luxury of a platform, instead having to step up onto the waiting open top wagons, where they would experience a journey that left many choking on the plumes of smoke exhaled by the leading locomotive. 2025 July 9, Oliver Wheeler, “Action stations...”, in RAIL, number 1039, page 68:

Antonyms

trailing · lagging · following

Coordinates

concurrent (occurring in advance) · lagging (occurring in advance)

Deriveds

leading indicator · leading man · forthleading · leading spoke · leading gentleman · leading lady · leading hand · leading woman · leading question · leading seaman · subleading · leadingly · nonleading

Synonyms

polar

Translations (31)

sv ledande (providing guidance) · pdt fierent (ranking first) · ru наводя́щий (providing guidance) · fi johdatteleva (providing guidance) · fi johtava (ranking first) · el κορυφαίος (ranking first) · hi अग्रसर (ranking first) · fi edeltävä (preceding) · de führend (preceding) · es principal (providing guidance) · ru веду́щий (providing guidance) · bg осно́вен (ranking first) · sv ledande (ranking first) · bg предхо́ждащ (preceding) · pl przewodzić (providing guidance) · bg гла́вен (ranking first) · de vorangehend (preceding) · ru веду́щий (ranking first) · it precedente (preceding) · de vorausgehend (preceding) · de führend (providing guidance) · bg ръководен (providing guidance) · hi नेतृत्व (providing guidance) · bg прева́рващ (preceding) · ru руководя́щий (providing guidance) · bg во́дещ (ranking first) · it principale (providing guidance) · bg водещ (providing guidance) · it maggiore (ranking first) · it principale (ranking first) · it primo (ranking first)

leading en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /ˈlidɪŋ/ (General-American)
• /ˈliːdɪŋ/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (General-American) audio

Etymology

From Middle English ledinge, ledynge, ledand, ledande, ledende, from Old English lǣdende, from Proto-West Germanic *laidijandī, from Proto-Germanic *laidijandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *laidijaną (“to lead”), equivalent to lead + -ing. Compare West Frisian liedend, Dutch leidend, German leitend, Swedish ledande, Icelandic leiðandi.

Meanings

1. (form-of, gerund, participle, present) present participle and gerund of lead
   form of lead
   • I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting, […], and finally leading me to his buggy, turned and drove out of town. 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

leading en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• /ˈlidɪŋ/ (General-American)
• /ˈliːdɪŋ/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (General-American) audio

Etymology

From Middle English leding, ledyng, ledinge, ledunge, equivalent to lead + -ing. Cognate with Dutch leiding (“conduit, leading, guidance, leadership”), German Leitung (“line, conduit, cable”).

Meanings

1. An act by which one is led or guided.
   • I do not affirm that what you see beyond is futile, I do not advise you to stop, / I do not say leadings you thought great are not great, / But I say that none lead to greater than these lead to. 1892, Walt Whitman, “A Song for Occupations”, in Leaves of Grass […], Philadelphia, Pa.: David McKay, publisher, […], →OCLC, stanza 5, page 175:
   • It has been said that we ought not to force our way, but to wait for the openings, and leadings of Providence; but it might with equal propriety be answered in this case, neither ought we to neglect embracing those openings in providence which daily present themselves to us. 1792, William Carey, An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the:
   • In his poetic method each writer followed the leadings of his own genius, without reference to common rules and standards; the individualism of the Revolutionary epoch asserted itself to the full. 1904, Edward Dowden, Robert Browning:
2. (archaic) Command of an army or military unit.
   • Art thou but Captaine of a thouſand horſe, That by Characters grauen in thy browes, And by thy martiall face and ſtout aſpect, Deſeru’ſt to haue the leading of an hoſte? c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:

Forms

Deriveds

bandleading · ringleading

leading en · NOUN · etymology 3

Pronunciation

• /ˈlɛdɪŋ/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Middle English leedynge, equivalent to lead (chemical element) + -ing; so named because in metal typesetting (letterpress and hot metal typesetting), pieces of lead (slugs, strips, blocks, etc) were often the mechanical means of producing the gap.

Meanings

1. (uncountable) Vertical space added between lines; line spacing.

Hypernyms

white space

Translations (24)

ja インテル (Vertical space added between lines) · ru интерлиньяж (Vertical space added between lines) · ko 행간 (Vertical space added between lines) · ga scaradh (Vertical space added between lines) · fi rivivälistys (Vertical space added between lines) · es entrelínea (Vertical space added between lines) · de Durchschuss (Vertical space added between lines) · fr interligne (Vertical space added between lines) · de Interlinea (Vertical space added between lines) · de Zeilenabstand (Vertical space added between lines) · pt espaçamento entre linhas (Vertical space added between lines) · pl leading (Vertical space added between lines) · cmn 行距 (Vertical space added between lines) · it interlinea (Vertical space added between lines) · el διάστιχο (Vertical space added between lines) · bg междуре́дие (Vertical space added between lines) · id interlini (Vertical space added between lines) · de Zeilendurchschuss (Vertical space added between lines) · hu sorköz (Vertical space added between lines) · cy rhynglinellu (Vertical space added between lines) · eo linipaŝo (Vertical space added between lines) · pt entrelinha (Vertical space added between lines) · sv radavstånd (Vertical space added between lines) · cs proklad řádků (Vertical space added between lines)