spearheaded

[speer-hed-id]

adjective

1. initiated or led (sometimes used in combination).

   Thanks to a recently spearheaded effort by a consortium of wineries, you can now find these fruit wines at your local wine shop.

   The "Solar Street" is a student-spearheaded, 18-kilowatt array of solar cells on the roofs of a row of houses.

2. like a spear or spearhead in sharpness or triangular shape, or in being precisely targeted or aimed.

   The workshop taught me a more spearheaded approach to managing tasks in my business.

   The warriors spread out, adopting a spearheaded formation.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of spearhead.

Word History and Origins

Origin of spearheaded¹

First recorded in 1800–10; spearhead ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. ) for the adjective senses; spearhead ( def. ) + -ed ¹ ( def. ) for the verb sense

Example Sentences

Her husband spearheaded a campaign for her release until she was returned after nearly six years.

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Mass movements spearheaded by the under-30s arose across Asia, Africa and Latin America to fight against poor living standards, social media censorship and elite corruption.

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"Furthermore, the erroneous ruling by the corporate court, spearheaded by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, to strip Wingtech of its control over Nexperia remains a key obstacle to resolving the issue," it added.

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Top seeds and two-time champions the United States, spearheaded by Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz, were drawn Monday alongside Spain and Argentina for their defence of the mixed-teams United Cup in Australia.

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The vote follows deadly protests in September, initially triggered by anger over a brief social media ban and spearheaded by young people under the loose "Gen Z" umbrella title.

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Related Words

• initiate 
• launch 
• prompt 
• spur