Lead"er (?), n. 1. One who, or that which, leads or conducts; a guide;
a conductor. Especially: (a) One who goes first. (b) One having
authority to direct; a chief; a commander. (c) (Mus.) A performer who
leads a band or choir in music; also, in an orchestra, the principal
violinist; the one who plays at the head of the first violins. (d)
(Naut.) A block of hard wood pierced with suitable holes for leading
ropes in their proper places. (e) (Mach.) The principal wheel in any
kind of machinery. [Obs. or R.] G. Francis. (f) A horse placed in
advance of others; one of the forward pair of horses.
He forgot to pull in his leaders, and they gallop away with him at
times.
Hare.
(g) A pipe for conducting rain water from a roof to a cistern or to the
ground; a conductor. (h) (Fishing) A net for leading fish into a pound,
weir, etc.; also, a line of gut, to which the snell of a fly hook is
attached. (i) (Mining) A branch or small vein, not important in itself,
but indicating the proximity of a better one.
2. The first, or the principal, editorial article in a newspaper; a
leading or main editorial article.
3. (Print.) (a) A type having a dot or short row of dots upon its face.
(b) pl. 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.
Syn. -- chief; chieftain; commander. See Chief.
Lead"er*ship (?), n. The office of a leader.
Lead"hill*ite (?), n. (Min.) A mineral of a yellowish or greenish white
color, consisting of the sulphate and carbonate of lead; -- so called
from having been first found at Leadhills, Scotland.
Lead"ing (?), a. Guiding; directing; controlling; foremost; as, a
leading motive; a leading man; a leading example. -- Lead"ing*ly, adv.
Leading case (Law), a reported decision which has come to be regarded
as settling the law of the question involved. Abbott. -- Leading motive
[a translation of G. leitmotif] (Mus.), a guiding theme; in the modern
music drama of Wagner, a marked melodic phrase or short passage which
always accompanies the reappearance of a certain person, situation,
abstract idea, or allusion in the course of the play; a sort of musical
label. -- Leading note (Mus.), the seventh note or tone in the
ascending major scale; the sensible note. -- Leading question, a
question so framed as to guide the person questioned in making his
reply. -- Leading strings, strings by which children are supported when
beginning to walk. -- To be in leading strings, to be in a state of
infancy or dependence, or under the guidance of others. -- Leading
wheel, a wheel situated before the driving wheels of a locomotive
engine.
Lead"ing, n. 1. The act of guiding, directing, governing, or enticing;
guidance. Shak.