lead-ins

noun

plural of lead-in
as in preliminaries

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for lead-ins
  1. preliminaries
  2. overtures
  3. preambles
  4. warm-ups
Noun
  • This year’s Miss World competition recently made headlines during the preliminaries when Ugandan delegate Elle Muhoza made a powerful fashion statement.
    — Tabitha Parent, PEOPLE, 5 Sep. 2026
  • But all of that was just the preliminaries for Grady Emerson.
    — John Romano, The Orlando Sentinel, 26 July 2026
Definition of preliminaries
Noun
  • Tottenham’s Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray, Stuttgart’s Angelo Stiller, Brighton’s Carlos Belaba, Botafogo’s Danilo and Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Larsson were among them, while overtures were made regarding Victor Froholdt’s availability at Porto.
    — George Caulkin, New York Times, 2 Sep. 2026
  • The United States had been looking for an interlocutor with Cuba and made overtures with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, grandson of former Cuban president Raúl Castro, according to an exclusive USA TODAY interview in July.
    — Rick Jervis, USA Today, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of overtures
Noun
  • The rest were preambles or dead ends.
    — Dan Turello, New Yorker, 10 Jan. 2026
  • Unless needed for clarity, avoid long preambles.
    — Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2025
Definition of preambles
Noun
  • Morning workouts may boost mood, sleep, and weight loss, but require warm-ups and adequate fueling.
    — Health Editorial Team, HEALTH, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Kittle was back at practice and broke down the team huddle at the conclusion of warm-ups.
    — Chris Biderman, Sacbee.com, 23 Aug. 2026
Definition of warm-ups
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.

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leading one down the garden path
lead-ins
leadman
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Cite this Entry

“Lead-ins.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lead-ins. Accessed 12 Sep. 2026.

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