have/hold the lead
idiom
: to be in the winning position in a race or competition
A runner from Kenya has/holds the lead.
Examples of have/hold the lead in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Advertisement The Clippers, however, were unable to hold the lead and lost 125-119 to the Suns despite having five players score in double figures.
—
Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 1 Nov. 2024
While Meta appears to have the lead now, most of the big players in the field are likely working toward using compute clusters with more than 100,000 advanced chips.
—Paresh Dave, WIRED, 31 Oct. 2024
The Bears didn’t hold the lead the entire game, until 23 seconds remained.
—Andrew Greif, NBC News, 28 Oct. 2024
Rohan Nadkarni The 49ers have the lead and now the ball.
—Greg Rosenstein, NBC News, 11 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for have/hold the lead 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 1 Nov. 2024
While Meta appears to have the lead now, most of the big players in the field are likely working toward using compute clusters with more than 100,000 advanced chips.
—Paresh Dave, WIRED, 31 Oct. 2024
The Bears didn’t hold the lead the entire game, until 23 seconds remained.
—Andrew Greif, NBC News, 28 Oct. 2024
Rohan Nadkarni The 49ers have the lead and now the ball.
—Greg Rosenstein, NBC News, 11 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for have/hold the lead
Cite this Entry
“Have/hold the lead.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/have%2Fhold%20the%20lead. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share