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.

That result during the critical lead up to Christmas led the maker of Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels cars to post sales and profit below Wall Street expectations in the fourth quarter.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 10, 2026

We’ve seen this a lot with the lead up to the ICE crackdowns, for example.

From Salon • Jan. 20, 2026

In the lead up to the event, Premier Chris Minns had warned that some people may find the sight "confronting", with police "carrying firearms and weapons that you haven't seen before".

From BBC • Dec. 31, 2025

“With new sales growth waning especially sharply in the lead up to the holiday season, economic activity may soften further as we head into 2026,” said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 16, 2025

While he was drinking his moderate allowance, he said, with nothing to lead up to it, and after having appeared rather fidgety,—

From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens

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