Lead"ing (?), a.
Guiding; directing; controlling; foremost; as, a leading motive; a leading man; a leading example.
--
Lead"ing*ly,
adv.
Leading case Law, a reported decision which has come to be regarded as settling the law of the question involved. Abbott. -- Leading motive [a translation of G. leitmotif] Mus., a guiding theme; in the modern music drama of Wagner, a marked melodic phrase or short passage which always accompanies the reappearance of a certain person, situation, abstract idea, or allusion in the course of the play; a sort of musical label. -- Leading note Mus., the seventh note or tone in the ascending major scale; the sensible note. -- Leading question, a question so framed as to guide the person questioned in making his reply. -- Leading strings, strings by which children are supported when beginning to walk. -- To be in leading strings, to be in a state of infancy or dependence, or under the guidance of others. -- Leading wheel, a wheel situated before the driving wheels of a locomotive engine.
© Webster 1913.
Lead"ing, n.
1.
The act of guiding, directing, governing, or enticing; guidance.
Shak.
2.
Suggestion; hint; example.
[Archaic]
Bacon.
© Webster 1913.