Word.ws English Dictionary

took the lead

took the lead is the simple past of take the lead.

Meaning of take the lead

Verb

take the lead (third-person singular simple present takes the lead, present participle taking the lead, simple past took the lead, past participle taken the lead)

  1. (idiomatic) To become the leader, to advance into first place.
    • At 0-0, United will take the lead if they score the penalty.
  2. (idiomatic) To assume leadership over a group.

Questions about took the lead

What is took the lead the simple past of?
Took the lead is the simple past of take the lead.

Words near took the lead in the dictionary

  1. took the initiative
  2. took the knee
  3. took the l
  4. took the law into one's hands
  5. took the law into one's own hands
  6. took the lead
  7. took the liberty
  8. took the long view
  9. took the mask off
  10. took the meaning
  11. took the Michael

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: took the lead (page history and authors); take the 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.

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