US /lid/ UK /liːd/
noun

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    the opening sentence or paragraph of a news story summarizing its essence

    The editor told her to rewrite the lede to hook the reader.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 noun · the opening sentence or... leadintrointroductionopening
Word family
Related forms lead

Etymology

A deliberate respelling of lead (the opening of a news story), altered by journalists to distinguish it from the lead (metal) once used in typesetting. Lead descends from Old English lǣdan ('to guide').

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Topics

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