led up; leading up; leads up
Examples of lead-up in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Feb. 2025
The comparisons first started cropping up this week during the lead-up to the two Canadian stars’ new collaborative LP, which dropped Friday (Feb. 14).
—Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 14 Feb. 2025
Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, 11 Feb. 2025
In the days leading up to this year's Super Bowl, only two brands rolled out car commercials -- Jeep and Ram, both owned by Stellantis NV.
—Kyle Stock and Brian Kahn Bloomberg News (wpns), arkansasonline.com, 11 Feb. 2025
See all Example Sentences for lead-up 
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.
Noun
The lead-up to his next start against the Braves in the wild-card series was particularly rough.
—Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Feb. 2025
The comparisons first started cropping up this week during the lead-up to the two Canadian stars’ new collaborative LP, which dropped Friday (Feb. 14).
—Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 14 Feb. 2025
Verb
Read: Trump’s pardons are sending a crystal-clear message In the days leading up to his ignominious departure, Nixon hatched a very Nixonian plot to exploit Ford’s goodwill and naivete.
—Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, 11 Feb. 2025
In the days leading up to this year's Super Bowl, only two brands rolled out car commercials -- Jeep and Ram, both owned by Stellantis NV.
—Kyle Stock and Brian Kahn Bloomberg News (wpns), arkansasonline.com, 11 Feb. 2025
See all Example Sentences for lead-up
Dictionary Entries Near lead-up
Cite this Entry
“Lead-up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lead-up. Accessed 20 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
lead up
verb
: to make a gradual approach to a topic
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share