: to make a gradual or indirect approach to a topic
Examples of lead-up in a Sentence
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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
Government admits failures of Army pilots A few legal revelations have been unveiled in the weeks leading up to the board meeting, which could create longer term impact on the Army and other agencies involved.—Alexandra Skores, CNN Money, 27 Jan. 2026 Mark Kuisle, a former athletic director of Rochester Century High School as well as a former president of MSHSL, previously said the League had been discussing the issue for multiple years leading up to that 2014 vote.—Jordan Shearer, Twin Cities, 27 Jan. 2026 See All Example Sentences for lead-up