led up; leading up; leads up
Examples of lead-up in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 1 Jan. 2026
When the film was released, Clooney intended to draw parallels between Murrow and how the media was covering the lead-up to the Iraq War.
—Brent Lang, Variety, 30 Dec. 2025
Ryan MacAsero, Mercury News, 10 Jan. 2026
Obviously, there’s a bunch of different plays that lead up to that.
—Roderick Boone, Charlotte Observer, 9 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for lead-up
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Noun
The giant spider felt like a failure of imagination — all that lead-up to the final battle, and that’s the most interesting thing the show could come up with?
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 1 Jan. 2026
When the film was released, Clooney intended to draw parallels between Murrow and how the media was covering the lead-up to the Iraq War.
—Brent Lang, Variety, 30 Dec. 2025
Verb
In the weeks leading up to trial, Baker has sought to limit references to Gaza and the defendants’ political views.
—Ryan MacAsero, Mercury News, 10 Jan. 2026
Obviously, there’s a bunch of different plays that lead up to that.
—Roderick Boone, Charlotte Observer, 9 Jan. 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 10 Jan. 2026.
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lead up
verb
: to make a gradual approach to a topic
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