led up; leading up; leads up
Examples of lead-up in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Emily Wilkins,justin Papp, CNBC, 8 Apr. 2026
And that is exactly what Pennsylvania is going to do in the lead-up to this election.
—ABC News, 5 Apr. 2026
Scott M. Reid, Oc Register, 17 Apr. 2026
What led up to this alert Cheboygan is one of several areas of concern in Michigan, where snowmelt from winter storms aggravated by additional rain overtook riverbanks and low-lying areas.
—Joseph Buczek, CBS News, 17 Apr. 2026
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 New Yorker reported that in the immediate lead-up to Trump’s announcement, there was an abnormal surge in futures trading volume predicting a decline in oil prices and a rebound in equity markets.
—Emily Wilkins,justin Papp, CNBC, 8 Apr. 2026
And that is exactly what Pennsylvania is going to do in the lead-up to this election.
—ABC News, 5 Apr. 2026
Verb
One of the ways Wilkins hoped to get there was getting out of the wet Oregon weather and focusing solely on training in the year leading up to the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal.
—Scott M. Reid, Oc Register, 17 Apr. 2026
What led up to this alert Cheboygan is one of several areas of concern in Michigan, where snowmelt from winter storms aggravated by additional rain overtook riverbanks and low-lying areas.
—Joseph Buczek, CBS News, 17 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for lead-up
Cite this Entry
“Lead-up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lead-up. Accessed 22 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
lead up
verb
: to make a gradual approach to a topic
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
