leader
Pluralleaders
- 1A person who guides or is in charge of a group, organization or country.
Like the captain of a ship who decides where it goes.
The team chose a new leader after the vote.
Good leaders listen to everyone before deciding.
UsageSay the leader of a group. After elect or appoint, you can drop "a" or "the": we elected her team leader.
Note
- 2A person or company that is the best or most successful in a field.
Like the runner who is winning a race.
That company is the world leader in electric cars.
Our school is a leader in science education.
UsageSay the leader in something: the world leader in electric cars.
Similarfrontrunner, pacesetter
Oppositelaggard
- 3A person who is in charge of a political party or its elected members.
Like the captain of a sports team who speaks for the players.
The party elected a new leader last spring.
The party chose a new leader after losing the election.
UsageSay as leader, with no "a" or "the", to mean while doing the job.
Note
- 4The musician leading a band, choir or orchestral section, or, in Britain, the main first violinist of an orchestra.
The band leader counted everyone in before the song.
Our leader played the first notes on her violin, and the rest of the orchestra followed her.
UsageOften in a phrase: band leader, section leader, leader of the cellos.
Note
Less common meanings
- 5A person who goes first, so others can follow.
Like the first duck in a row that the others follow.
The leader of the parade waved to the crowd.
In the race, the leader pulled far ahead of everyone.
UsageIn the game follow the leader, everyone copies the person in front.
Similarfrontrunner, pacesetter
Oppositefollower
Note
- 6The animal in charge of a pack or group, which the others follow.
Like the biggest dog that the others let go ahead.
The pack waited for their leader to start the hunt.
In a wolf pack, the leader usually eats first.
UsagePeople often say pack leader, which is clearer.
Similaralpha
Note
- 7The main opinion piece in a newspaper.
Like the main letter at the front that gives the paper's view.
The paper's leader argued for lower taxes.
She read the leader before the rest of the news.
UsageA newspaper runs a leader on a topic.
Similareditorial
Note
- 8A popular product a store uses to pull in customers, sometimes sold cheaply.
Like a cheap toy a shop puts in the window to get people inside.
Grocers call cheap milk a leader because it brings shoppers in.
Half-price eggs were the store's leader to get people in the door.
Note
- 9A short line between the main fishing line and hook, used to resist damage or be harder for fish to see.
Like a tough, almost invisible thread between your line and the hook.
She tied on a wire leader to stop the pike from biting through.
A clear leader makes the bait look more natural to wary trout.
Similartrace
Note
- 10An animal that goes at the front of a team pulling a sled, carriage or plow.
Like the first runner in a relay who sets off ahead of the rest.
The sled dog at the front is the leader.
They harnessed the strongest ox as the leader.
Note
- 11A row of dots or dashes that guides your eye across a page to the right number or word.
Like a trail of dots that walks your eye across the page to the number.
The designer added a leader of dots between each chapter title and its page number.
A dotted leader runs from each dish to its price on the menu.
Note
- 12A strip at the start or end of a film or paper roll that helps thread it onto a machine.
Like the plain tab at the start of a roll of tape that you grab to get it going.
The projectionist spliced a new leader onto the worn film reel.
A few feet of leader protected the first frames of the movie.
Note
- 13A fast-growing shoot at the tip of a tree's or bush's stem or branch.
Like the top stem that races ahead while the side branches grow more slowly.
The gardener trimmed the leader to make the young tree grow wider instead of taller.
Each spring the spruce sends up a new leader pointing straight at the sky.
Note
- 14A pipe that carries rainwater down from a roof to the ground or a storage tank.
Like a straw that carries water from the roof down to the ground.
Workers fixed the leader so rain would drain away from the house.
The leader on the north side was clogged with fallen leaves.
- 15The path that electric charge opens first, usually from a cloud down to the ground, shaping a bolt of lightning.
Like a path that opens up first, which the bright flash then follows.
The leader forked several times before it reached the ground.
Cameras caught the faint leader just before the bright flash.
Note
- 16A frame of printed words shown during a film, especially an old silent movie.
The leader only runs three seconds, but it acts like a drop curtain in a theater.
1913, Epes Winthrop Sargent, The Technique of the PhotoplayHere, leader means a title shown on screen between film scenes.Similarintertitle, title, caption
Note
- 17A net that guides fish into a trap such as a weir or pen.
- 18The wheel in a machine that drives and turns the other parts.
- 19A small vein of ore that points the way to a larger, richer one nearby.
- 20A block of hard wood with holes drilled in it to guide ropes into place on a ship.
- 21A small piece of printing type with a dot or a few dots on the part that prints.
Practice
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Origin
From Old English lǣdere, meaning "leader." It comes from "lead" plus "-er."
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Leader derives from Old English lǣdere. en.wiktionary.org
- Old English lǣdere means “leader.” en.wiktionary.org
- Leader consists of lead plus the suffix -er. en.wiktionary.org