Lead vs. Leader — What's the Difference?

To guide or direct.

A person who guides or directs a group.

Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin plumbum) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials.

A person with authority in a particular area.

Cause (a person or animal) to go with one by holding them by the hand, a halter, a rope, etc. while moving forward

The foremost part or front.

Be a route or means of access to a particular place or in a particular direction

One that leads or guides.

Be in charge or command of

One who is in charge or in command of others.

Have the advantage over competitors in a race or game

One who heads a political party or organization.

Have or experience (a particular way of life)

One who has influence or power, especially of a political nature.

The initiative in an action; an example for others to follow

A conductor, especially of an orchestra, band, or choral group.

A position of advantage in a contest; first place

The principal performer in an orchestral section or a group.

The chief part in a play or film

The foremost animal, such as a horse or dog, in a harnessed team.

A strap or cord for restraining and guiding a dog or other domestic animal

A loss leader.

A wire that conveys electric current from a source to an appliance, or that connects two points of a circuit together.

Chiefly British The main editorial in a newspaper.

The distance advanced by a screw in one turn.

Leaders(Printing) Dots or dashes in a row leading the eye across a page, as in an index entry.

An artificial watercourse leading to a mill.

A pipe for conducting liquid.

A soft, heavy, ductile bluish-grey metal, the chemical element of atomic number 82. It has been used in roofing, plumbing, ammunition, storage batteries, radiation shields, etc., and its compounds have been used in crystal glass, as an anti-knock agent in petrol, and (formerly) in paints.

A short length of fishing line between the main line and the hook.

An item or implement made of lead.

A blank strip at the end or beginning of a film or tape used in threading or winding.

Graphite used as the part of a pencil that makes a mark

(Botany) The growing apex or main shoot of a shrub or tree.

A blank space between lines of print.

An economic indicator.

To show the way to by going in advance

Any person who leads or directs.

To guide or direct in a course

One who goes first.

To serve as a route for; take

One having authority to direct.

To be a channel or conduit for (water or electricity, for example).

One who leads a political party or group of elected party members; sometimes used in titles.

To guide the behavior or opinion of; induce

A person or organization that leads in a certain field in terms of excellence, success, etc.

To direct the performance or activities of

(music) A performer who leads a band, choir, or a section of an orchestra.

To inspire the conduct of

The first violin in a symphony orchestra; the concertmaster.

To play a principal or guiding role in

An animal that leads.

To go or be at the head of

The dominant animal in a pack of animals, such as wolves or lions.

To be ahead of

An animal placed in advance of others, especially on a team of horse, oxen, or dogs

To be foremost in or among

Either of the two front horses of a team of four in front of a carriage.

To pass or go through; live

Someone or something that leads or conducts.

To begin or open with, as in games

(botany) A fast-growing terminal shoot of a woody plant.

To guide (a partner) in dancing.

A pipe for conducting rain water from a roof to a cistern or to the ground.

To aim in front of (a moving target).

The first, or the principal, editorial article in a newspaper; a leading or main editorial article; a lead story.

(Sports) To pass a ball or puck ahead of (a moving teammate) so that the player can receive the pass without changing direction or losing speed.

(fishing) A section of line between the main fishing line and the snell of a hook, intended to be more resistant to bites and harder for a fish to detect than the main fishing line.

To be first; be ahead.

A piece of material at the beginning or end of a reel or roll to allow the material to be threaded or fed onto something, as a reel of film onto a projector or a roll of paper onto a rotary printing press.

To go first as a guide.

An intertitle.

To act as commander, director, or guide.

(marketing) A loss leader or a popular product sold at a normal price.

To afford a passage, course, or route

(printing) A type having a dot or short row of dots upon its face.

To tend toward a certain goal or result

A row of dots, periods, or hyphens, used in tables of contents, etc., to lead the eye across a space to the right word or number.

To make the initial play, as in a game or contest.

(fishing) A net for leading fish into a pound, weir, etc.

To begin a presentation or account in a given way

(mining) A branch or small vein, not important in itself, but indicating the proximity of a better one.

To guide a dance partner.

(nautical) A block of hard wood pierced with suitable holes for leading ropes in their proper places.

To start a dance step on a specified foot.

(engineering) The drive wheel in any kind of machinery.

(Baseball) To advance or stand a few paces away from one's base toward the next while the pitcher prepares to deliver a pitch. Used of a base runner.

(meteorology) The path taken by electrons from a cloud to ground level, determining the shape of a bolt of lightning.

(Sports) To begin an attack in boxing with a specified hand or punch

One who, or that which, leads or conducts; a guide; a conductor.

To cover, line, weight, or fill with lead.

A pipe for conducting rain water from a roof to a cistern or to the ground; a conductor.

(Printing) To provide space between (lines of type) with leads.

The first, or the principal, editorial article in a newspaper; a leading or main editorial article.

To secure (window glass) with leads.

A type having a dot or short row of dots upon its face.

To treat with lead or a lead compound

A person who rules or guides or inspires others

The first or foremost position

A featured article of merchandise sold at a loss in order to draw customers

One occupying such a position; a leader.

A trendsetter or one that sets a standard.

The initiative

The principal player in a music group.

The margin by which one holds a position of advantage or superiority

Information pointing toward a possible solution; a clue

An indication of potential opportunity; a tip

Command; leadership

An example; a precedent

The principal role in a film, play, show, or other scripted production.

The person playing such a role.

The introductory portion of a news story, especially the first sentence.

An important, usually prominently displayed news story.

The first play.

The prerogative or turn to make the first play

A card played first in a round.

(Baseball) An amount of space that a base runner moves or stands away from one base in the direction of the next while the pitcher prepares to deliver a pitch.

(Sports) A blow in boxing that begins a series or exchange of punches.

A leash.

A deposit of gold ore in an old riverbed.

See lode.

(Electronics) A conductor by which one circuit element is electrically connected to another.

(Nautical) The direction in which a line runs.

The distance aimed in front of a moving target.

A channel of open water created by a break in a mass of ice.

Symbol Pb A soft, malleable, ductile, bluish-white, dense metallic element, extracted chiefly from galena and used in containers and pipes for corrosives, solder and type metal, bullets, radiation shielding, paints, glass, storage batteries, and antiknock compounds. Atomic number 82; atomic weight 207.2; melting point 327.5°C; boiling point 1,749°C; specific gravity 11.35; valence 2, 4. See Periodic Table.

Any of various, often graphitic compositions used as the writing substance in pencils.

A thin stick of such material.

Bullets from or for firearms; shot

A lead weight suspended by a line, used to make soundings.

(Printing) A thin strip of metal used to separate lines of type.

Strips of lead used to hold the panes of a window.

Chiefly British A flat roof covered with sheets of lead.

First or foremost

Most important

(uncountable) A heavy, pliable, inelastic metal element, having a bright, bluish color, but easily tarnished; both malleable and ductile, though with little tenacity. It is easily fusible, forms alloys with other metals, and is an ingredient of solder and type metal. Atomic number 82, symbol Pb (from Latin plumbum).

A plummet or mass of lead attached to a line, used in sounding depth at sea or (dated) to estimate velocity in knots.

A thin strip of type metal, used to separate lines of type in printing.

Vertical space in advance of a row or between rows of text. Also known as leading.

Sheets or plates of lead used as a covering for roofs.

(plural leads) A roof covered with lead sheets or terne plates.

(countable) A thin cylinder of graphite used in pencils. Category:en:Carbon

(slang) bullets; ammunition.

(countable) The act of leading or conducting; guidance; direction, course

(countable) Precedence; advance position; also, the measure of precedence; the state of being ahead in a race; the highest score in a game in an incomplete game.

An insulated metallic wire for electrical devices and equipment.

(baseball) The situation where a runner steps away from a base while waiting for the pitch to be thrown.

The act or right of playing first in a game or round; the card suit, or piece, so played

The main role in a play or film; the lead role.

(acting) The actor who plays the main role; lead actor.

(business) The person in charge of a project or a work shift etc.

(countable) A channel of open water in an ice field.

A lode.

(nautical) The course of a rope from end to end.

A rope, leather strap, or similar device with which to lead an animal; a leash

In a steam engine, the width of port opening which is uncovered by the valve, for the admission or release of steam, at the instant when the piston is at end of its stroke.

(civil engineering) The distance of haul, as from a cutting to an embankment.

(horology) The action of a tooth, such as a tooth of a wheel, in impelling another tooth or a pallet.

Hypothesis that has not been pursued

Information obtained by a detective or police officer that allows him or her to discover further details about a crime or incident.

(marketing) Potential opportunity for a sale or transaction, a potential customer.

Information obtained by a news reporter about an issue or subject that allows him or her to discover more details.

(curling) The player who throws the first two rocks for a team.

(newspapers) A teaser; a lead-in; the start of a newspaper column, telling who, what, when, where, why and how. (Sometimes spelled as lede for this usage to avoid ambiguity.)

An important news story that appears on the front page of a newspaper or at the beginning of a news broadcast

(engineering) The axial distance a screw thread travels in one revolution. It is equal to the pitch times the number of starts.

(music) In a barbershop quartet, the person who sings the melody, usually the second tenor

(music) The announcement by one voice part of a theme to be repeated by the other parts.

(music) A mark or a short passage in one voice part, as of a canon, serving as a cue for the entrance of others.

(engineering) The excess above a right angle in the angle between two consecutive cranks, as of a compound engine, on the same shaft.

(electrical) The angle between the line joining the brushes of a continuous-current dynamo and the diameter symmetrical between the poles.

(electrical) The advance of the current phase in an alternating circuit beyond that of the electromotive force producing it.

(transitive) To cover, fill, or affect with lead.

To place leads between the lines of.

To guide or conduct.

To guide or conduct with the hand, or by means of some physical contact connection.

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 lead a pupil; to guide somebody somewhere or to bring somebody somewhere by means of instructions.

(figuratively): To direct; to counsel; to instruct

To conduct or direct with authority; to have direction or charge of; to command, especially a military or business unit.

To guide or conduct oneself in, through, or along (a certain course); hence, to proceed in the way of; to follow the path or course of; to pass; to spend. Also, to cause (one) to proceed or follow in (a certain course).

(intransitive) To guide or conduct, as by accompanying, going before, showing, influencing, directing with authority, etc.; to have precedence or preeminence; to be first or chief; — used in most of the senses of the transitive verb.

(heading) To begin, to be ahead.

(transitive) To go or to be in advance of; to precede; hence, to be foremost or chief among.

(intransitive) To lead off or out, to go first; to begin.

(intransitive) To be more advanced in technology or business than others.

(transitive) To draw or direct by influence, whether good or bad; to prevail on; to induce; to entice; to allure

(intransitive) To tend or reach in a certain direction, or to a certain place.

To produce (with to).

(transitive) To live or experience (a particular way of life).

(not comparable) Foremost.

Main, principal, primary, first, chief, foremost.

One of the elements, a heavy, pliable, inelastic metal, having a bright, bluish color, but easily tarnished. It is both malleable and ductile, though with little tenacity, and is used for tubes, sheets, bullets, etc. Its specific gravity is 11.37. It is easily fusible (melting point 327.5° C), forms alloys with other metals, and is an ingredient of solder and type metal. Atomic number 82. Atomic weight, 207.2. Symbol Pb (L. Plumbum). It is chiefly obtained from the mineral galena, lead sulphide.

An article made of lead or an alloy of lead

A small cylinder of black lead or graphite, used in pencils.

The act of leading or conducting; guidance; direction; as, to take the lead; to be under the lead of another.

Precedence; advance position; also, the measure of precedence; as, the white horse had the lead; a lead of a boat's length, or of half a second.

The act or right of playing first in a game or round; the card suit, or piece, so played; as, your partner has the lead.

An open way in an ice field.

A lode.

The course of a rope from end to end.

The width of port opening which is uncovered by the valve, for the admission or release of steam, at the instant when the piston is at end of its stroke.

The distance of haul, as from a cutting to an embankment.

The action of a tooth, as a tooth of a wheel, in impelling another tooth or a pallet.

The announcement by one voice part of a theme to be repeated by the other parts.

In an internal-combustion engine, the distance, measured in actual length of piston stroke or the corresponding angular displacement of the crank, of the piston from the end of the compression stroke when ignition takes place; - called in full lead of the ignition. When ignition takes place during the working stroke the corresponding distance from the commencement of the stroke is called negative lead.

The excess above a right angle in the angle between two consecutive cranks, as of a compound engine, on the same shaft.

In spiral screw threads, worm wheels, or the like, the amount of advance of any point in the spiral for a complete turn.

The angle between the line joining the brushes of a continuous-current dynamo and the diameter symmetrical between the poles.

A role for a leading man or leading woman; also, one who plays such a role.

The first story in a newspaper or broadcast news program.

An electrical conductor, typically as an insulated wire or cable, connecting an electrical device to another device or to a power source, such as a conductor conveying electricity from a dynamo.

The distance a runner on base advances from one base toward the next before the pitch; as, the long lead he usually takes tends to distract the pitchers.

To cover, fill, or affect with lead; as, continuous firing leads the grooves of a rifle.

To place leads between the lines of; as, to lead a page; leaded matter.

To guide or conduct with the hand, or by means of some physical contact or connection; as, a father leads a child; a jockey leads a horse with a halter; a dog leads a blind man.

To guide or conduct in a certain course, or to a certain place or end, by making the way known; to show the way, esp. by going with or going in advance of.

To conduct or direct with authority; to have direction or charge of; as, to lead an army, an exploring party, or a search; to lead a political party.

To go or to be in advance of; to precede; hence, to be foremost or chief among; as, the big sloop led the fleet of yachts; the Guards led the attack; Demosthenes leads the orators of all ages.

To draw or direct by influence, whether good or bad; to prevail on; to induce; to entice; to allure; as, to lead one to espouse a righteous cause.

To guide or conduct one's self in, through, or along (a certain course); hence, to proceed in the way of; to follow the path or course of; to pass; to spend. Also, to cause (one) to proceed or follow in (a certain course).

To begin a game, round, or trick, with; as, to lead trumps; the double five was led.

To tend or reach in a certain direction, or to a certain place; as, the path leads to the mill; gambling leads to other vices.

A soft heavy toxic malleable metallic element; bluish white when freshly cut but tarnishes readily to dull gray;

An advantage held by a competitor in a race;

Evidence pointing to a possible solution;

A position of leadership (especially in the phrase `take the lead');

The angle between the direction a gun is aimed and the position of a moving target (correcting for the flight time of the missile)

The introductory section of a story;

An actor who plays a principal role

(baseball) the position taken by a base runner preparing to advance to the next base;

An indication of potential opportunity;

A news story of major importance

The timing of ignition relative to the position of the piston in an internal-combustion engine

Restraint consisting of a rope (or light chain) used to restrain an animal

Thin strip of metal used to separate lines of type in printing

Mixture of graphite with clay in different degrees of hardness; the marking substance in a pencil

A jumper that consists of a short piece of wire;

The playing of a card to start a trick in bridge;

Take somebody somewhere;

Result in;

Tend to or result in;

Travel in front of; go in advance of others;

Cause to undertake a certain action;

Stretch out over a distance, space, time, or scope; run or extend between two points or beyond a certain point;

Be in charge of;

Be ahead of others; be the first;

Be conducive to;

Lead, as in the performance of a composition;

Pass or spend;

Lead, extend, or afford access;

Move ahead (of others) in time or space

Cause something to pass or lead somewhere;

Preside over;

Forefront position or advantage.

To initiate or begin.

To cause or bring about a result.

A type of metal (Pb).

Yes, "Lead" can refer to the metal (Pb), unrelated to its guiding meaning.

Yes, "Lead" can refer to the act of guiding (verb) or the position of advantage (noun).

"Lead" might refer to a team's advantage, while "Leader" denotes the individual directing the team.

Yes, "Leader" always refers to the person or entity that leads or guides.

Not necessarily. An entity or organization can also be referred to as a leader in a domain.

Yes, "Lead" can refer to guiding along a path or direction.

"Lead" is about the act or position of guidance, while "Leader" is the entity providing that guidance.

"Leader" can refer to the principal player in a music group or band.

Yes, as in "This will lead to success."

A "Leader" can be a trendsetter or someone who sets standards in an industry.

While related, their nuanced differences make them suited for specific contexts.

No, it can also refer to initiating discussions or leading in thoughts.

Not always, but it can refer to a position of advantage or forefront.

Yes, in contexts like "the leader of the tape," where it's the foremost part.

"Leader" typically has authority or influence in a given context.