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lead on
verb
led on; leading on; leads on
: to entice or induce to adopt or continue in a course or belief especially when unwise or mistaken
Synonyms
Examples of lead on in a Sentence
a con man whose dupes are usually led on by their own greed and eagerness to turn an easy buck
Recent Examples on the Web
The Pelicans took a 92-77 lead on a jumper by Ingram and went up by 20 on 3-pointer by Alvarado.
—Jason Anderson, Sacramento Bee, 20 Apr. 2024
Trout belted an eighth-inning two-run homer to give the Angels the lead on their way to a 7-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night.
—Jeff Fletcher, Orange County Register, 16 Apr. 2024
Joey Logano’s decision to take two tires, instead of four, gave him the race lead on the restart prior to the start of Stage 2.
—Shane Connuck, Charlotte Observer, 7 Apr. 2024
California has assumed the national lead on decarbonizing transportation.
—Russ Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2024
Going into Tuesday night’s games, Golden State has a five-game lead on the Jazz for the No. 10 seed and the final play-in tournament spot.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 6 Mar. 2024
Florida took a 5-0 lead on Reinhart’s 53rd of the season at 17:56 of the second.
—Miami Herald, 5 Apr. 2024
In Wednesday’s battle of one-loss teams, Parker (11-1, 2-0) took a 4-0 lead on hits by Mary Grandona, Olivia Urso, Evelyn Luo and Mimi Humui, along with several miscues by Classical (7-2, 0-1), which saw its seven-game winning streak snapped with its first game in 12 days.
—Jim Lindgren, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Apr. 2024
The Warriors own a three-game lead on the Rockets, who lost Tuesday, with a Thursday matchup awaiting in Houston.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 3 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lead on.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1598, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near lead on
Cite this Entry
“Lead on.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lead%20on. Accessed 28 Apr. 2024.
Kids Definition
lead on
verb
: to persuade to take up or continue in a course of action or belief when unwise or mistaken
led on by the promise of wealth
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