leader Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun a person who rules or guides or inspires others
noun a featured article of merchandise sold at a loss in order to draw customers
loss leader; drawing card.

One who, or that which, leads or conducts; a guide; a conductor. Especially: (a) One who goes first. (b) One having authority to direct; a chief; a commander. (c) (Mus.) 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. (d) (Naut.) A block of hard wood pierced with suitable holes for leading ropes in their proper places. (e) (Mach.) The principal wheel in any kind of machinery. Obs. or R. G. Francis. (f) A horse placed in advance of others; one of the forward pair of horses.
He forgot to pull in his leaders, and they gallop away with him at times. Hare.
(g) A pipe for conducting rain water from a roof to a cistern or to the ground; a conductor. (h) (Fishing) 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. (i) (Mining) A branch or small vein, not important in itself, but indicating the proximity of a better one.
The first, or the principal, editorial article in a newspaper; a leading or main editorial article.
(Print.) (a) A type having a dot or short row of dots upon its face. (b) pl. 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. Syn. -- chief; chieftain; commander. See Chief.