: something (such as a television show or segment) that leads into something else
a lead-in to the commercial
lead-in adjective

Examples of lead-in in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The practice of airing a new episode of a TV series behind the Oscars mirrors the Super Bowl tradition of airing a program after the big game to take advantage of the tremendous lead-in audience. Clayton Davis, Variety, 30 Nov. 2023 Psaki, of course, would go on to add an hour in weekday primetime on Monday nights, serving as the lead-in to Rachel Maddow, who continues to host the 9 p.m. hour that evening. Alex Weprin, The Hollywood Reporter, 30 Nov. 2023 Despite the very incompatible lead-in and less-than-ideal scheduling — the show faced off against new episodes of The Voice and Dancing With the Stars — the Frasier revival still managed to attract a little more than 2 million same-day viewers, with ratings actually going up for the second episode. Vulture, 19 Oct. 2023 The company set a goal of 5 million viewers for the initial broadcast and expected a lower number for Episode 2 due to the lack of NFL lead-in, so the 6.6 million and 5 million respective viewers who tuned in represented a ratings win. Selome Hailu, Variety, 28 Sep. 2023 Worse, the season premiere of lead-in Name that Tune barely got one million viewers and had a demo rating half of its already meh numbers from January. Vulture, 21 Sep. 2023 As part of the lead-in to the upcoming season, the NHL Network is ranking the top 50 players in the league, a list compiled by researchers, producers and on-air personalities. Sportsday Staff, Dallas News, 13 Sep. 2023 In the first act, the hosts use soul food recipes to introduce a series of soul artists; for example, peach cobbler is the lead-in to the duo Peaches and Herb. Emily McClanathan, Chicago Tribune, 6 Sep. 2023 Pop singer Gracie Abrams was announced as the lucky lead-in for the biggest tour on the planet. Joe Mutascio, The Indianapolis Star, 3 Aug. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lead-in.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1913, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of lead-in was in 1913

Dictionary Entries Near lead-in

Cite this Entry

“Lead-in.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lead-in. Accessed 7 Dec. 2023.

Kids Definition

lead-in

noun
ˈlēd-ˌin
: something (as a television show or segment) that leads into something else
lead-in adjective

More from Merriam-Webster on lead-in

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!