Main vs. Lead — What's the Difference?

Central in location or role.

To go or be at the front.

Key element or focus.

Foremost position or role.

Most important or largest.

To be in charge or command.

Dominant in influence or size.

Most influential or directive part.

Most important; principal.

Initiating or guiding action.

Exerted to the utmost; sheer

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.

(Nautical) Connected to or located near the mainmast

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

(Obsolete) Of or relating to a continuous area or stretch, as of land or water.

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

The chief or largest part

Be in charge or command of

The principal pipe or conduit in a system for conveying water, gas, oil, or other utility.

Have the advantage over competitors in a race or game

Physical strength

Have or experience (a particular way of life)

A mainland.

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

The open ocean.

A position of advantage in a contest; first place

A mainsail.

The chief part in a play or film

A mainmast.

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

The main dish of a meal

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

Of chief or leading importance; prime, principal.

The distance advanced by a screw in one turn.

Chief, most important, or principal in extent, size, or strength; consisting of the largest part.

An artificial watercourse leading to a mill.

Full, sheer, undivided.

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.

(dialectal) Big; angry.

An item or implement made of lead.

(nautical) Belonging to or connected with the principal mast in a vessel.

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

(obsolete) Great in size or degree; important, powerful, strong, vast.

A blank space between lines of print.

Exceedingly, extremely, greatly, mightily, very, very much.

To show the way to by going in advance

To mainly play a specific character or side, or with specific equipment, during a game.

To guide or direct in a course

(obsolete) To convert (a road) into a main or primary road.

To serve as a route for; take

That which is chief or principal; the chief or main portion; the bulk, the greater part, gross.

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

(video gaming) The primary character that one plays in a video game in which one can play more than one character.

To guide the behavior or opinion of; induce

A large cable or pipe providing utility service to an area or a building, such as a water main or electric main.

To direct the performance or activities of

(informal) dish]] of a meal

To inspire the conduct of

The high seas.

To play a principal or guiding role in

The mainland.

To go or be at the head of

(nautical) mainsail

To be ahead of

Force, power, strength, violent effort.

To be foremost in or among

A hand or match in a game of dice.

To pass or go through; live

The largest throw in a match at dice; in the game of hazard, a number from one to nine called out by a person before the dice are thrown.

To begin or open with, as in games

A stake played for at dice.

To guide (a partner) in dancing.

A sporting contest or match, especially a cockfighting match.

To aim in front of (a moving target).

A banker's shovel for coins.

(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.

A basket for gathering grapes.

To be first; be ahead.

A hand or match at dice.

To go first as a guide.

A stake played for at dice.

To act as commander, director, or guide.

The largest throw in a match at dice; a throw at dice within given limits, as in the game of hazard.

To afford a passage, course, or route

A match at cockfighting.

To tend toward a certain goal or result

A main-hamper.

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

Strength; force; might; violent effort.

To begin a presentation or account in a given way

The chief or principal part; the main or most important thing.

To guide a dance partner.

The great sea, as distinguished from an arm, bay, etc. ; the high sea; the ocean.

To start a dance step on a specified foot.

Very or extremely strong.

(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.

Vast; huge.

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

Unqualified; absolute; entire; sheer.

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

Principal; chief; first in size, rank, importance, etc.; as, the main reason to go; the main proponent.

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

Important; necessary.

To secure (window glass) with leads.

Very; extremely; as, main heavy.

To treat with lead or a lead compound

Any very large body of (salt) water

The first or foremost position

A principal pipe in a system that distributes water or gas or electricity or that collects sewage

One occupying such a position; a leader.

Most important element;

The initiative

Of a clause; able to stand alone syntactically as a complete sentence;

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

Of force; of the greatest possible intensity;

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.

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 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;

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;

No, "main" implies importance or dominance but not necessarily leadership.

"Lead" can be a role or action, while "leader" specifically denotes a person in that role.

"Main" is used to describe the most significant part, such as the main reason or main event.

In performances, "lead" refers to the primary role or principal performer.

Yes, "main" is used in technical and non-technical contexts alike, such as the main circuit.

The lead character drives the narrative and holds the audience's interest in storytelling.

In a professional setting, "lead" often refers to someone in charge of a team or project.

"Main" refers to the most important or central element in any context.

Yes, "main" can describe physical objects like the main building.

While sometimes overlapping in casual use, they generally have distinct meanings based on context.

Less commonly, but it can refer to something in a guiding role, like a lead vehicle.

"Main" refers to the principal part, while "major" emphasizes size or degree but not necessarily primacy.