leading
Syllables: lead·ingUK/ˈliːdɪŋ//ˈlidɪŋ/
leading is the present participle and gerund of lead.
Adjective
leading (not comparable)
- Providing guidance or direction.
- Avoid leading questions if you really want the truth.
- Synonyms:
- polar
- Ranking first.
- He is a leading supplier of plumbing supplies in the county.
- 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
Noun (1)
leading (plural leadings)
- An act by which one is led or guided.
- 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
- 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
- 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...
- Art thou but Captaine of a thouſand horſe,
Meaning of lead
Verb (1)
lead (third-person singular simple present leads, present participle leading, simple past and past participle leaded)
- To cover, fill, or affect with lead.
- continuous firing leads the grooves of a rifle.
- To place leads between the lines of.
- to lead a page
Verb (2)
lead (third-person singular simple present leads, present participle leading, simple past and past participle led)
- To guide or conduct with the hand, or by means of some physical contact connection.
- a father leads a child
- To guide or conduct in a certain course, or to a certain place or end, by making the way known; to show the way, especially by going with or going in advance of; to guide somebody somewhere or to bring somebody somewhere by means of instructions.
- The guide was able to lead the tourists through the jungle safely.
- To direct; to counsel; to instruct.
- A good teacher should lead their students to the right answer.
- To conduct or direct with authority; to have direction or charge of; to command, especially a military or business unit.
- to lead a political party
- Synonyms:
- spearhead
Noun (2)
UK/ˈlɛdɪŋ/
leading (uncountable)
Synonyms of leading
Antonyms
Forms of leading
| plural | leadings |
|---|
Origin of leading
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.
From Middle English leding, ledyng, ledinge, ledunge, equivalent to lead + -ing. Cognate with Dutch leiding (“conduit, leading, guidance, leadership”), German Leitung (“line, conduit, cable”).
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.
Words formed from leading
Phrases with leading
- leading in
- leading on
- leading to
- leading men
- leading off
- leading out
- leading axle
- leading case
- leading edge
- leading line
- leading rein
- leading tone
41 more phrasesFewer phrases
- leading axles
- leading cases
- leading edges
- leading hands
- leading light
- leading lines
- leading reins
- leading tones
- leading truck
- leading up to
- leading wheel
- leading women
- leading astray
- leading ladies
- leading lights
- leading motive
- leading seamen
- leading spokes
- leading strand
- leading trucks
- leading wheels
- leading motives
- leading nowhere
- leading strands
- leading strings
- leading the way
- leading through
- Leading Tickles
- leading diagonal
- leading the line
- leading diagonals
- leading gentlemen
- leading questions
- leading indicators
- leading the charge
- leading by the nose
- leading from the front
- blind leading the blind
- leading with one's chin
- leading someone up the garden path
- leading someone down the garden path
Words that rhyme with leading
Questions about leading
- What does leading mean?
- Leading means providing guidance or direction.
- What is leading the present participle and gerund of?
- Leading is the present participle and gerund of lead.
- What part of speech is leading?
- Leading can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce leading?
- Leading is pronounced /ˈliːdɪŋ/ (UK).
Words near leading in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: leading (page history and authors); lead (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-leading.ogg.
Cite this entry: “leading.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/leading. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.