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Synonyms

lead on

British  
/ liːd /

verb

  1. (tr, adverb) to lure or entice, esp into trouble or wrongdoing

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
lead on Idioms  

  1. Entice someone into proceeding, mislead; also, deceive someone, especially pretending romantic interest. For example, He's leading her on to reveal more of her family history, or She's just leading him on; she has a serious boyfriend at home. [Late 1500s]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

We were led on by my sister purposefully and by my mother unintentionally.

From Literature

But the Americans led on the only scoreboard that mattered—and they were the ones with gold medals around their necks.

From The Wall Street Journal

In South Africa, foot-and-mouth is classified as a "controlled animal disease", meaning that the government is responsible for taking the lead on measures to deal with it.

From BBC

But investors have seen it jump into the lead on a handful of previous occasions.

From MarketWatch

Among the details uncovered in the files is information that showed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had closer ties to Epstein than he had initially led on.

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.