1. (n.) One who, or that which, leads or conducts; a guide; a conductor.

2. (n.) One who goes first.

3. (n.) One having authority to direct; a chief; a commander.

4. (n.) A performer who leads a band or choir in music; also, in an orchestra, the principal violinist; the one who plays at the head of the first violins.

5. (n.) A block of hard wood pierced with suitable holes for leading ropes in their proper places.

6. (n.) The principal wheel in any kind of machinery.

7. (n.) A horse placed in advance of others; one of the forward pair of horses.

8. (n.) A pipe for conducting rain water from a roof to a cistern or to the ground; a conductor.

9. (n.) A net for leading fish into a pound, weir, etc. ; also, a line of gut, to which the snell of a fly hook is attached.

10. (n.) A branch or small vein, not important in itself, but indicating the proximity of a better one.

11. (n.) The first, or the principal, editorial article in a newspaper; a leading or main editorial article.

12. (n.) A type having a dot or short row of dots upon its face.

13. (n.) a row of dots, periods, or hyphens, used in tables of contents, etc., to lead the eye across a space to the right word or number.

A per se AG DA KC Kapellmeister Mahdi QC SSC US attorney ace analysis ancestor announcer antecedent article article of commerce article of merchandise attorney general avant-garde band leader band major bandmaster bell cow bell mare bellwether bidet big cheese big wheel big-timer bigwig bone of contention born leader boss buccinator bushwhacker captain carriage horse cart horse catechism cavalry horse chairman champion charismatic leader chief chieftain choirmaster choragus civilian cock commandant commander comment commentary commentation commodity conductor corporation lawyer coryphaeus court-appointed lawyer criminal lawyer critical review criticism critique cross-interrogatory cross-question dean debating point defense counsel demand dignitary director district attorney doyen doyenne draft horse dray horse driving horse drug drum major duce editorial eminence explorer feature feeler file leader fill horse filler forebear foregoer foreman forerunner front runner frontiersman fugleman gaffer general genius gigster gloss groundbreaker guide hack hackney harbinger head headman herald hierarch high priest higher-up honcho hunter important person innovator inquiry inspired leader interrogation interrogative interrogatory issue item jument junior counsel kingfish kingpin laureate law agent lead lead item lead runner leader of men leading article leading card leading question lion loss leader luminary main feature manager master messenger messiah moot point mount mouthpiece nonpareil notability notice number one orchestra leader pacemaker pacesetter pack horse palfrey paragon pathfinder personage pilot pioneer plow horse point point at issue point in question pole horse polo pony post-horse precedent precentor precursor predecessor principal private attorney problem prodigy product prosecuting attorney prosecutor public prosecutor publicist query question question at issue question mark quodlibet rector remark remount report review rider riding horse ringleader road horse roadster rouncy ruler running commentary saddle horse saddler scout seconds senior shaft horse silk silk gown solicitor general special special pleader stalking-horse standard article standard-bearer staple staple item star stormy petrel straw boss stuff gown stuff-gownsman sumpter sumpter horse superintendent superior superman superstar symphonic conductor the greatest the most thill horse thiller top dog topic torchbearer trailblazer trailbreaker trial balloon vanguard vaunt-courier vendible vexed question virtuoso voortrekker ware wheeler wheelhorse workhorse write-up