noun

1. a person or thing that leads; directing, commanding, or guiding head, as of a group or activity
2. a horse harnessed before all others in the same hitch or as one of the two horses in the foremost span
3. a pipe for carrying fluid; specif.,
   1. downspout
   2. a hot-air duct in a heating system
4. a tendon
5. a section of blank film or recording tape at the beginning of a reel, for use in threading, etc.
6. ☆ a featured article of trade, esp. one offered at an attractively low price
7. Bot. the central or dominant stem of a plant, esp. of a tree
8. ☆ Fishing a short piece of catgut, nylon, etc. used to attach the hook or lure to the fish line
9. Journalism leading article
10. Music
    1. a conductor, esp. of a dance band
    2. the main performer in an instrumental or vocal section, generally given the solo passages
11. Naut. fair-lead
12. Printing dots, dashes, etc. in a line, used to direct the eye across the page, as in a table of contents