lead on

British  

/ liːd /

verb

1. (tr, adverb) to lure or entice, esp into trouble or wrongdoing

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lead on Idioms  

1. Entice someone into proceeding, mislead; also, deceive someone, especially pretending romantic interest. For example, He's leading her on to reveal more of her family history, or She's just leading him on; she has a serious boyfriend at home. [Late 1500s]

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Example Sentences

The Coast Guard has taken the lead on the seizures so far, indicating that the actions are a law-enforcement operation rather than a military blockade.

From The Wall Street Journal

After the release of a third version of Gemini in November, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman declared a “code red” for the company to help it regain its lead on key model-performance benchmarks.

From The Wall Street Journal

He said he and his family had lived in 12 different places since the fire left ash contaminated with lead on and in their home.

From Los Angeles Times

In the second run, Shiffrin was only fifth fastest but even without finding fluency was able to pad her lead on deteriorating snow after Rast, skiing second last, made mistakes.

From Barron's

"The world will follow, like nations once followed our lead on plane tobacco packaging, gun reform, water, and sun safety," she said.

From BBC

Related Words

• be dishonest
• betray
• cheat
• circumvent
• defraud
• delude
• disappoint
• dupe
• entrap
• falsify
• fool
• hoodwink
• mislead
• swindle
• trick
• victimize