lead

/liːd/ /led/ noun

Definition

› [S] a winning position in a situation in which people are competing: give sb/sth a lead The brand will give the company a commanding lead in the important new sector.have/increase/maintain a lead (over sb/sth) The group's market share rose to 42.9%, increasing its lead over their arch-rival, which has 37.6%. Goldman maintained its lead as top manager of negotiated sales.

› [C, usually singular] an action or example that shows a person or group what to do: Most competitors will in any case be only too happy to follow the company's lead in raising prices.take a lead from sb/sth We could take a lead from Finland, where a government programme has dramatically raised the intake of fruit and vegetables.take a lead on sth The supermarket group took a lead on GM food labelling.

› [C] MARKETING a piece of information that allows a discovery to be made, customers to be found, or a solution to be found: Our business meeting gave me lots of good leads.

(Definition of lead noun from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)