lead

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

　　the children were playing with lead soldiers

　　2.an advantage held by a competitor in a race;

　　he took the lead at the last turn

　　3.evidence pointing to a possible solution;

　　the police are following a promising lead

　　4.a position of leadership (especially in the phrase `take the lead');

　　he takes the lead in any group

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

　　6.the introductory section of a story;

　　it was an amusing lead-in to a very serious matter

　　7.an actor who plays a principal role

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

　　he took a long lead off first

　　9.an indication of potential opportunity;

　　he got a tip on the stock market

　　10. a news story of major importance

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

　　12. restraint consisting of a rope (or light chain) used to restrain an animal

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

　　14. mixture of graphite with clay in different degrees of hardness; the marking substance in a pencil

　　15. a jumper that consists of a short piece of wire;

　　it was a tangle of jumper cables and clip leads

　　16. the playing of a card to start a trick in bridge;

　　the lead was in the dummy