The difference between First and Lead
When used as nouns, first means the person or thing in the first position, whereas lead means a heavy, pliable, inelastic metal element, having a bright, bluish color, but easily tarnished.
When used as adjectives, first means preceding all others of a series or kind, whereas lead means foremost.
First is also adverb with the meaning: before anything else.
Lead is also verb with the meaning: to cover, fill, or affect with lead.
check bellow for the other definitions of First and Lead
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First as an adjective:
Preceding all others of a series or kind; the ordinal of one; earliest.
Examples:
"The first day of September 2013 was a Sunday."
"I was the first runner to reach the finish line, and won the race."
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First as an adjective:
Most eminent or exalted; most excellent; chief; highest.
Examples:
"Demosthenes was the first orator of Greece."
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First as an adverb:
Before anything else; firstly.
Examples:
"Clean the sink first, before you even think of starting to cook."
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First as a noun (uncountable):
The person or thing in the first position.
Examples:
"He was the first to complete the course."
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First as a noun (uncountable):
The first gear of an engine.
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First as a noun (countable):
Something that has never happened before; a new occurrence.
Examples:
"This is a first. For once he has nothing to say."
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First as a noun (countable, baseball):
first base
Examples:
"There was a close play at first."
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First as a noun (countable, British, colloquial):
A first-class honours degree.
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First as a noun (countable, colloquial):
A first-edition copy of some publication.
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First as a noun:
A fraction of an integer ending in one.
Examples:
"one forty-first of the estate"
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First as a noun (obsolete):
Time; time granted; respite.
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Lead as a noun (uncountable):
A heavy, pliable, inelastic metal element, having a bright, bluish color, but easily tarnished; both malleable and ductile, though with little tenacity. It is easily fusible, forms alloys with other metals, and is an ingredient of solder and type metal. Atomic number 82, symbol Pb (from Latin plumbum).
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Lead as a noun (countable):
A plummet or mass of lead attached to a line, used in sounding depth at sea or to estimate velocity in knots.
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Lead as a noun:
A thin strip of type metal, used to separate lines of type in printing.
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Lead as a noun (uncountable, typography):
Vertical space in advance of a row or between rows of text. Also known as leading.
Examples:
"This copy has too much lead; I prefer less space between the lines."
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Lead as a noun:
Sheets or plates of lead used as a covering for roofs.
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Lead as a noun (plural '''leads'''):
A roof covered with lead sheets or terne plates.
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Lead as a noun (countable):
A thin cylinder of black lead or plumbago (graphite) used in pencils.
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Lead as a noun (slang):
Bullets; ammunition.
Examples:
"They [[pumped]] him full of lead."
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Lead as a verb (transitive):
To cover, fill, or affect with lead
Examples:
"continuous firing leads the grooves of a rifle."
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Lead as a verb (transitive, printing, historical):
To place leads between the lines of.
Examples:
"to lead a page; leaded matter"
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Lead as a verb (transitive):
To guide or conduct. To guide or conduct with the hand, or by means of some physical contact connection. To guide or conduct in a certain course, or to a certain place or end, by making the way known; to show the way, especially by going with or going in advance of, to lead a pupil; to guide somebody somewhere or to bring somebody somewhere by means of instructions. : To direct; to counsel; to instruct To conduct or direct with authority; to have direction or charge of; to command, especially a military or business unit. To guide or conduct oneself in, through, or along (a certain course); hence, to proceed in the way of; to follow the path or course of; to pass; to spend. Also, to cause (one) to proceed or follow in (a certain course).
Examples:
"a father leads a child;  a jockey leads a horse with a halter;  a dog leads a blind man"
"The guide was able to lead the tourists through the jungle safely."
"A good teacher should lead their students to the right answer."
"to lead a political party"
"to lead the search team"
"The evidence leads me to believe he is guilty."
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Lead as a verb (intransitive):
To guide or conduct, as by accompanying, going before, showing, influencing, directing with authority, etc.; to have precedence or preeminence; to be first or chief; — used in most of the senses of the transitive verb.
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Lead as a verb:
To begin, to be ahead. To go or to be in advance of; to precede; hence, to be foremost or chief among. To lead off or out, to go first; to begin. To be more advanced in technology or business than others. # To begin a game, round, or trick, with # To be ahead of others, e.g., in a race. # To have the highest interim score in a game. # To step off base and move towards the next base. # To aim in front of a moving target, in order that the shot may hit the target as it passes. # Lead climb.
Examples:
"the big sloop led the fleet of yachts;  the Guards led the attack;  Demosthenes leads the orators of all ages"
"to lead trumps"
"He led the ace of spades."
"The batter always leads off base."
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Lead as a verb (transitive):
To draw or direct by influence, whether good or bad; to prevail on; to induce; to entice; to allure
Examples:
"to lead someone to a righteous cause"
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Lead as a verb (intransitive):
To tend or reach in a certain direction, or to a certain place.
Examples:
"the path leads to the mill;  gambling leads to other vices"
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Lead as a verb:
To produce (with to).
Examples:
"The shock led to a change in his behaviour."
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Lead as a verb:
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Lead as a noun (uncountable):
The act of leading or conducting; guidance; direction, course
Examples:
"to take the lead'"
"to be under the lead of another"
"* At the time I speak of, and having a momentary lead, ... I am sure I did my country important service. — w Edmund Burke"
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Lead as a noun (uncountable):
Precedence; advance position; also, the measure of precedence; the state of being ahead in a race; the highest score in a game in an incomplete game.
Examples:
"the white horse had the lead."
"to be in the lead'"
"She lost the lead."
"Smith managed to extend her lead over the second place to half a second."
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Lead as a noun (UK, countable):
An insulated metallic wire for electrical devices and equipment.
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Lead as a noun (baseball):
The situation where a runner steps away from a base while waiting for the pitch to be thrown.
Examples:
"The runner took his lead from first."
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Lead as a noun (uncountable, card games, dominoes):
The act or right of playing first in a game or round; the card suit, or piece, so played
Examples:
"your partner has the lead'"
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Lead as a noun (acting):
The main role in a play or film; the lead role.
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Lead as a noun (acting):
The actor who plays the main role; lead actor.
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Lead as a noun (countable):
A channel of open water in an ice field.
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Lead as a noun (countable, mining):
A lode.
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Lead as a noun (nautical):
The course of a rope from end to end.
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Lead as a noun:
A rope, leather strap, or similar device with which to lead an animal; a leash
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Lead as a noun:
In a steam engine, the width of port opening which is uncovered by the valve, for the admission or release of steam, at the instant when the piston is at end of its stroke.
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Lead as a noun:
Charging lead.
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Lead as a noun (civil engineering):
The distance of haul, as from a cutting to an embankment.
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Lead as a noun (horology):
The action of a tooth, such as a tooth of a wheel, in impelling another tooth or a pallet.
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Lead as a noun:
Hypothesis that has not been pursued
Examples:
"The investigation stalled when all leads turned out to be dead ends."
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Lead as a noun:
Information obtained by a detective or police officer that allows him or her to discover further details about a crime or incident.
Examples:
"The police have a couple of leads they will follow to solve the case."
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Lead as a noun (marketing):
Potential opportunity for a sale or transaction, a potential customer.
Examples:
"Joe is a great addition to our sales team, he has numerous leads in the paper industry."
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Lead as a noun:
Information obtained by a news reporter about an issue or subject that allows him or her to discover more details.
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Lead as a noun (curling):
The player who throws the first two rocks for a team.
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Lead as a noun (newspapers):
A teaser; a lead-in; the start of a newspaper column, telling who, what, when, where, why and how. (Sometimes spelled as lede for this usage to avoid ambiguity.)
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Lead as a noun:
An important news story that appears on the front page of a newspaper or at the beginning of a news broadcast
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Lead as a noun (engineering):
The axial distance a screw thread travels in one revolution. It is equal to the pitch times the number of starts.
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Lead as a noun (music):
In a barbershop quartet, the person who sings the melody, usually the second tenor
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Lead as a noun (music):
The announcement by one voice part of a theme to be repeated by the other parts.
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Lead as a noun (music):
A mark or a short passage in one voice part, as of a canon, serving as a cue for the entrance of others.
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Lead as a noun (engineering):
The excess above a right angle in the angle between two consecutive cranks, as of a compound engine, on the same shaft.
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Lead as a noun (electrical):
The angle between the line joining the brushes of a continuous-current dynamo and the diameter symmetrical between the poles.
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Lead as a noun (electrical):
The advance of the current phase in an alternating circuit beyond that of the electromotive force producing it.
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Lead as an adjective (not comparable):
Foremost.
Examples:
"The contestants are all tied; no one has the lead position."
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Lead as an adjective (music):
main, principal
Examples:
"the lead guitarist"
"'lead trumpet"
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Lead as a verb: