leading
1 Americanadjective
-
chief; principal; most important; foremost.
a leading toy manufacturer.
-
coming in advance of others; first.
We rode in the leading car.
-
directing, guiding.
- Synonyms:
- ruling
noun
adjective
-
guiding, directing, or influencing
-
(prenominal) principal or primary
-
in the first position
the leading car in the procession
-
maths (of a coefficient) associated with the term of highest degree in a polynomial containing one variable
in 5x² + 2x + 3, 5 is the leading coefficient
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of leading1
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English (noun); lead 1 ( def. ) + -ing 2 ( def. ) for the adjective senses; lead 1 ( def. ) + -ing 1 ( def. ) for the noun sense
Origin of leading2
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.
Three City Section running backs — Tru Warrior Casas of Fairfax, Ceasar Reyes of Garfield and Brandon Hernandez of Panorama — are going back and forth leading the state in rushing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2026
The vice president can’t stop with tedious jokes about Talarico, who is leading in statewide polls.
From Salon ● Oct. 21, 2026
Hyperscalers in the U.S. alone are talking about $7 trillion to $9 trillion that’s needed to finance that building and keep the U.S. in a leading position on AI, he said.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2026
China’s controls on ESS capacity could also change the industry dynamics with more focus on project pipelines, which should benefit leading domestic battery players, they say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
Dr. Bigelow tackles that question head-on: "The leading feature of this case is its improbability," Dr. Bigelow admits.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
