leading light noun

A very influential member

leading note noun (music)

The seventh tone of a major or minor scale, which leads the hearer to expect the tonic to follow

leading question noun

A question put in such a way as to suggest the desired answer

leading reins or leading strings plural noun (US)

1. Children's walking reins
2. Vexatious care or custody

leadˈ-off noun

A first move (see also lead off below)

leadˈ-out noun

1. The part of the groove on a record after the recording has finished, opp to lead-in (also lead-out groove)
2. A wire by which electric current can enter or leave an electronic instrument

lead time noun (orig US)

1. The time between the conception or design of a product, factory, alteration, etc and its production, completion, implementation, etc
2. The time taken for delivery of goods after an order has been placed

leadˈ-up noun

1. Something that introduces or causes something else
2. The period immediately prior to something happening

lead apes in hell

Imagined to be the lot of old maids in the afterlife

lead astray

1. To draw into a wrong course
2. To seduce from proper conduct

lead by the nose

To make (someone) follow submissively

lead in (Scot)

To house the harvest

lead in prayer

To lead the offering up of prayer in an assembly, uniting the prayers of others

lead off

To begin or take the start in anything

lead on

1. To persuade to go on, to draw on
2. To persuade to do something foolish
3. To trick or deceive

lead out

1. To conduct to execution or a dance
2. To bring out by preceding
3. To begin to play (cards)

leads and lags (commerce)

1. In international trade, the early payment of bills, dividends, etc to concerns abroad, and the delayed invoicing of foreign customers and delayed conversion of foreign currencies into sterling (in order to take advantage of expected changes in the rate of exchange), which have an effect on the balance of payments situation
2. Any variations in the times of completion of transactions

lead someone a dance see under dance

lead the way

To go first and guide others

lead up to

1. To bring about by degrees, to prepare for by steps or stages
2. To happen immediately before
3. To play in challenge to, or with a view to weakness in (cards)

light¹ /līt/

noun

1. The agency by which objects are made visible
2. Electromagnetic radiation capable of producing visual sensation
3. Anything from which it originates, such as the sun or a lamp
4. A high degree of illumination
5. Day
6. A gleam or shining from a bright source
7. A gleam or glow in the eye or on the face
8. The power of vision (archaic)
9. An eye (archaic)
10. The brighter part of a picture
11. A means of igniting or illuminating
12. A lighthouse
13. Mental or spiritual illumination (figurative)
14. Enlightenment
15. A hint, clue or help towards understanding
16. Knowledge
17. Open view
18. Aspect
19. A conspicuous person
20. An aperture for admitting light
21. A vertical division of a window
22. In a crossword, the word (or sometimes an individual letter in the word) on the diagram that is the answer to a clue

adjective

1. Not dark
2. Bright
3. Whitish
4. Well lit

transitive verb (lightˈing; lightˈed or lit)

1. To shine light on, provide light in
2. To set fire to
3. To follow or precede (someone, or his or her path) with a light

intransitive verb (archaic)

To become light or bright

lightˈer noun

1. A person who sets something alight
2. A means of igniting, esp a small device for lighting cigarettes

lightˈful adjective (archaic)

Full of light

lightˈing noun

1. Illumination
2. Ignition, kindling
3. Arrangement or quality of lights

lightˈish adjective

lightˈless adjective

lightˈness noun

lightˈsome adjective (archaic and poetic)

Full of light

lightˈ-ball noun (historical)

A combustible ball used to give light in warfare

light box noun

1. A box-shaped device with an internal lamp to facilitate viewing through paper, negatives, etc placed on its translucent surface
2. A box that produces simulated daylight, used in light therapy

light bulb noun

A glass bulb containing a low-pressure gas and a metal filament which glows when an electric current is passed through it, one of the most common methods of electric lighting

light bulb moment noun (informal)

A moment of inspiration or sudden understanding

lightˈ-dues plural noun

Tolls from ships, for maintenance of lighthouses

light-emitting diode noun

A semiconducting device that emits light when an electric current passes through it, as used for alphanumeric displays in digital clocks, electronic calculators, etc (abbrev LED)

lightˈ-fast adjective

(of colour in fabric, or coloured fabric) not liable to fade from prolonged exposure to light

lightˈhouse noun

A building with a powerful light to guide or give warning to ships or aircraft

lightˈhouseman or lightˈhousekeeper noun

The person in charge of a lighthouse

lightˈing-up noun and adjective

lighting-up time noun

The time of day from which vehicles must have their lights switched on

light meter noun (photography)

A meter for measuring the level of light present, an exposure meter

lightˈ-mill noun

A radiometer

lightˈ-orˈgan noun

A keyboard instrument that gives a play of light as an organ gives sound

light pen noun (computing)

1. A pen-shaped photoelectric device that can communicate directly with a computer, entering or altering data on a screen
2. A light-sensitive fibre-optic device shaped like a pen, used for reading barcoded labels

light pollution noun

The unpleasant effects of excessive artificial lighting, esp in large cities

lightˈ-proof adjective

Impervious to light, light-tight

lightˈship noun

A ship serving the purpose of a lighthouse

light show noun

A colourful spectacle of moving lights that often accompanies rock and pop bands at live performances, usu projected onto a large screen

light table noun (printing)

(a table incorporating) a ground-glass surface, illuminated from below, for use when working on lay-out with translucent materials

light therapy noun

The use of artificial light to treat depression, fatigue and disorders such as SAD, thought to be caused by insufficient natural light for the body's needs

lightˈ-tight adjective

Light-proof

light time noun

The time taken by light to travel from a heavenly body to the observer

lightˈ-tower noun

light trap noun

Any mechanical arrangement which permits movement while excluding light, such as the doors and partitions providing access to a darkroom

lightˈ-year noun

The distance light travels in a year (about 6000000000000 miles)

according to one's lights

As far as one's knowledge, spiritual illumination, etc enables one to judge

between the lights

In the twilight

between two lights

Under cover of darkness

bring to light

To reveal

come to light

To be revealed

fixed light

In lighthouses, an unchanging light

floating light

A light at the masthead of a lightship

go out like a light

To fall sound asleep soon after going to bed

hide one's light under a bushel see under bushel¹

in a good (or bad) light

Putting a favourable (or unfavourable) construction on something

inner light

Spiritual illumination, esp divinely inspired

in one's (or the) light

1. Positioned between the speaker or the stated person and the source of illumination
2. Blocking one's chance of success

in the light of

Considering, taking into account

leading light see under lead¹

light at the end of the tunnel

An indication that success, completion, etc is assured, if still distant

light of nature

1. Intellectual perception or intuition
2. Man's capacity of discovering truth unaided by revelation (theology)

lights out

1. A bugle or trumpet call for the extinction of lights (military)
2. The time at which lights are turned out for the night, in a boarding school, barracks, etc

light up

1. To light one's lamp, pipe, cigarette, etc
2. To turn on the light
3. To make or become light, bright, happy, etc

lit (up)

Drunk

northern and southern lights

Aurora borealis and australis respectively

see the light

1. To come into view or being
2. To realize a fact, mistake, etc
3. To be religiously converted

see the light of day

1. To be born, discovered or produced
2. To come to public notice

shed, throw or cast light on

To clarify, help to explain

stand in one's own light

To hinder one's own advantage

strike a light! (slang)

An exclamation expressing surprise