Synonyms

lead up to

British

/ liːd /

verb

to act as a preliminary or introduction to
to approach (a topic) gradually or cautiously

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

lead up to Idioms

Prepare gradually for, result in gradually, as in These events clearly led up to the coup, or His remarks led up to the main point of the speech, that he was going to resign next year. [Mid-1800s]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

lead up to

"It did cause a lot of stress in the lead up to the wedding," she remembers.

From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026

In the lead up to the interview, Cohen said that he had met with Trump three times in the past year.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

"It's imperative they win every game in the lead up to it this year."

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

“The bombing of the hospital was more reflective of the times that Stagg and his wife had gone through in the lead up to D-day,” Maras says.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026

Plush carpeted stairs lead up to the Belle apartments.

From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023