leader

Less common meanings

5. 5
   nouncountable

   A person who goes first, ahead of the others.

   The leader reached the summit an hour before the rest.

   In deep snow the leader breaks the trail, and the skiers behind take turns at the front whenever that person tires.

   UsageSet phrase: follow the leader, a children's game, and also any copying of whoever goes first.

   Similarfrontrunner, pacesetter

   Oppositefollower

   Note

   Here the word stays closest to its parts: lead plus -er, the one at the front whom the rest come after. The set phrase follow the leader keeps this sense alive. In it, position matters more than power: the leader need not command anyone, only go first. When rank or the right to give orders is meant, the "authority" meaning is the better fit. Source

   Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • Leader can be analysed as lead plus the agent suffix -er. en.wiktionary.org
6. 6
   nouncountable

   The dominant animal in a group, such as a wolf pack or lion pride, that the others follow.

   The other wolves deferred to their leader at the kill.

   A young challenger fought the old leader for control of the pride.

   UsageOften pack leader, the clearer choice when the animals have not already been named.

   Similaralpha

   Note

   Writing about animal behavior uses the word for the dominant member of a pack, alongside alpha and pack leader. In their 1985 book on wolves, Sylvia A. Johnson and Alice Aamodt note that licking and nipping a leader's muzzle resembles the food-begging of wolf pups and may be related to it. Deference, in other words, may borrow the gestures of the den.

7. 7
   newspaper opinionnounUKcountable

   The principal editorial article in a newspaper, expressing the publication's main opinion on a current issue.

   The Times ran a strongly worded leader on the housing crisis.

   Each morning the editor drafts the leader before the news meeting.

   UsageA paper runs a leader on an issue: a leader on the housing crisis.

   Similareditorial

   Note

   In British newspapers the main editorial is the leader, the piece also called the leading article. It speaks for the paper itself, setting out its view on a current issue, though the word sometimes stretches to cover the lead story as well. A sentence such as the paper ran a leader on the party leader shows why context matters next to a party's leader. Source

   Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • A newspaper's editorial expresses the paper's own opinion. image.guardian.co.uk
8. 8
   shop drawnouncountable

   A loss leader, or a popular product sold at its normal price, used to draw customers into a store.

   The supermarket ran canned tuna as its weekly leader, betting that shoppers who came in for it would fill their carts with full-priced goods.

   Electronics chains often treat a new game console as a leader, selling it close to cost to bring in buyers for games and accessories.

   Note

   Retail borrows the word's root image here: the product that goes in front and draws shoppers after it, much as the lead animal of a team draws the rest. Leader on its own is the broader term. Loss leader narrows it to goods sold at little or no profit, so a store can run a leader without losing money on it. A full-price favorite does the same job. Source

   Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • A lead animal is placed ahead of the other animals in a team. en.wiktionary.org
9. 9
   fishing linenouncountable

   A section of line connecting the main fishing line to the hook or lure, often used to resist bites or abrasion or reduce visibility.

   He attached a long fluorocarbon leader so the spooked bass wouldn't shy away.

   The toothy fish frayed the leader but never reached the main line.

   Similartrace

   Note

   Anglers tie a leader between the main line and the hook or lure, because that end of the rig meets the fish. The leader is chosen to resist bites or abrasion, or to be harder for a fish to see, so it is often made of a different material from the main line. It is a different piece of gear from the net of the same name, which steers whole runs of fish into a trap.

10. 10
    front animalnouncountable

    An animal at the front of a team pulling a sled, carriage or plow, such as either front horse of a team of four.

    The musher trusted her best dog as leader on the icy trail.

    Driving four horses, the coachman kept a close eye on the near leader, the front horse on the left, since it set the line for the whole team.

    Note

    Teams of draft animals give the word a working sense: the horse, ox or dog harnessed at the front, which the driver must keep in hand. In 1846 Julius Charles Hare turned it into a figure for style. He wrote that Donne sometimes "forgot to pull in his leaders," who galloped away with him over hill and dale. The image is of a writer outrun by his own momentum. Source

    Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • The Hare passage dates to 1846, the first publication year of The Mission of the Comforter. en.wikisource.org
    • Julius Charles Hare wrote that Donne forgot to restrain his metaphorical leaders, which galloped away with him. en.wiktionary.org
11. 11
    row of dotsnouncountableplural

    In typesetting, a line of dots, periods, or hyphens that carries the reader's eye across a blank space to the matching word or number, as in a table of contents.

    Each entry in the index was followed by a leader that carried the eye to the page number.

    The template inserted a leader automatically whenever a heading and its number were too far apart.

    Note

    Typesetters usually speak of these in the plural: a line of leaders running from a chapter title to its page number. They do one job, guiding the eye across empty space, which is why they turn up in tables of contents and similar lists. Dots are the familiar form, but periods or hyphens serve the same purpose.

12. 12
    blank stripnouncountable

    A length of material at the beginning or end of a reel or roll that lets it be threaded or fed onto a device such as a projector or printing press.

    She fed the leader through the rollers before the press could grip the paper.

    The countdown numbers were printed on the leader at the head of the reel.

    Note

    Film and printing share this practical word for the expendable stretch at the head or tail of a roll. It exists so the machine has something to grip besides the material that matters. Photographers meet it at the mouth of a film cassette. In Reframing Photography (2011), Rebekah Modrak and Bill Anthes warn against rewinding so far that the leader disappears inside.

13. 13
    tree shootnouncountable

    A fast-growing shoot at the tip of a woody plant's stem or branch.

    Pruning the central leader encouraged the apple tree to fill out its lower branches.

    A healthy leader on a conifer extends the trunk straight upward year after year.

    Note

    In botany and pruning, the leader is the shoot that carries a tree upward, and the usual phrase is central leader. How that shoot is kept or cut shapes the whole tree. In 1975 David J. De Laubenfels observed that a strong central leader may leave branches nearly horizontal, like a "telephone pole." Source

    Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Keeping or cutting the central leader affects the tree's overall form. extension.umn.edu
    • A 1975 passage attributed to David J. De Laubenfels describes horizontal branches associated with a strong central leader, using the words 'telephone pole'. en.wiktionary.org
    • The cited synonym belongs to the sense of a person who leads or conducts, not the botanical sense. Remove this sentence. en.wiktionary.org
14. 14
    rain pipenouncountable

    A pipe for carrying rainwater from a roof down to a cistern or to the ground.

    Rain poured from the gutter into the leader and out across the lawn.

    They connected the leader to a barrel so the runoff could be saved for the garden.

    Similardownspout, downpipe, drainpipe

15. 15
    lightning pathnouncountable

    The channel of ionized air that forms first in a lightning strike, usually reaching down from a cloud toward the ground, and sets the path and shape of the bolt.

    The descending leader branched repeatedly as it searched for the easiest route to the ground.

    A rising spark met the leader partway down, completing the channel for the strike.

    Note

    Meteorologists use the word for the first, faint stage of a lightning strike: a channel of ionized air that works out from the cloud, in the usual cloud-to-ground strike carrying electrons down toward the ground, and fixes the shape of the bolt. A common collocation is descending leader. The bright flash comes only after this path is complete, and the leader's branching is what gives many bolts their forked look.

16. 16
    noundatedcountable

    A printed title or caption shown on screen between or within the scenes of a film, especially a silent film.

    The leader only runs three seconds, but it acts like a drop curtain in a theater.

    1913, Epes Winthrop Sargent, The Technique of the Photoplay

    Similarintertitle, title, caption

    Note

    Early filmmakers used the word for the title card shown between scenes; it now sounds dated, and intertitle is the current term. In The Technique of the Photoplay (1912; second edition 1913), Epes Winthrop Sargent says a leader "only runs three seconds, but it acts like the drop curtain in a theater." In modern film talk, the word more often means the threading strip at the head of a reel. Source

    Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • Early filmmakers used leader for a title card between scenes. archive.org
    • The book was first published in 1912; the quoted passage appears in its 1913 second edition. d-nb.info
    • Epes Winthrop Sargent wrote The Technique of the Photoplay. archive.org
    • Sargent wrote “the drop curtain,” not “a drop curtain.” archive.org
17. 17
    noun

    A net used to guide fish into a pound, weir, or similar trap.
18. 18
    noun

    The drive wheel in a machine, the one that turns and moves the other connected parts.
19. 19
    noun

    A small branch or vein of ore, unimportant in itself but a sign that a better one lies nearby.
20. 20
    noun

    In sailing, a hardwood block with holes bored through it to guide ropes into their proper positions.
21. 21
    noun

    A piece of printing type whose face carries a single dot or a short row of dots.