lead (redirected from going over like a lead balloon)

go down like a lead balloon (humorous)

if something that you say or show to people goes down like a lead balloon, they do not like it at all. My joke about the alcoholic went down like a lead balloon.

See also: balloon, down, like

have lead in your pencil (British, humorous)

put lead in your pencil - to increase a man's sexual ability. 'My uncle's 65 and he's getting remarried.' 'He still has a bit of lead in his pencil then!'

See also: pencil

have/lead/live a charmed life

to always be lucky and safe from danger. After her miraculous escape from the fire we've decided she leads a charmed life.

See also: charm, life, live

lead someone a (merry) dance (old-fashioned)

to confuse someone or to cause problems for them by deceiving them or behaving in a way that they cannot understand. She's led us a merry dance over the plans for the party.

See also: dance

lead someone astray

1. to influence someone so that they do bad things. Parents always worry about their children being led astray by unsuitable friends.

2. to cause someone to make a mistake. The police were led astray by false information from one of the witnesses.

See also: astray

lead someone by the nose

to control someone and make them do exactly what you want them to do. They simply didn't know what they were doing and they were led by the nose by a manipulative government. (usually passive)

See also: nose

lead the field

1. if you lead the field in a race or a sports event, you are better than all the people competing against you and are likely to win. At the end of the second day's play, Ballasteros is leading the field.

2. if you lead the field in an activity or business, you are more successful than anyone else. There are some areas of medical research where Russian scientists still lead the field.

See also: field

lead someone up the garden path (British, American & Australian, informal, American, informal)

to deceive someone. We were led up the garden path about the cost of the building work - it turned out really expensive.

See also: garden, path

lead/live the life of Riley (informal)

to have a happy life without hard work, problems or worries. He lived the life of Riley, having inherited a huge amount of money.

See also: life, live

one thing leads to another

if one things leads to another, a series of events happen, each one caused by the previous one. I only asked him in for a coffee, but one thing led to another and we ended up in bed together. (never in continuous tenses) People don't usually decide to become spies. They agree to do someone a favour and one thing leads to another.

See also: another, thing

put lead in your pencil (British, humorous)

to increase a man's sexual ability. You should eat a few oysters - that'll put some lead in your pencil.

See also: pencil

swing the lead (British & Australian, old-fashioned)

to pretend to be ill so that you do not have to work. And is she genuinely ill or is she just swinging the lead? (usually in continuous tenses)

See also: swing

You can lead a horse to water (but you can't make him/it drink).

something that you say which means you can give someone the opportunity to do something, but you cannot force them to do it if they do not want to. I made all the arrangements, bought the ticket, and even took him to the airport, but he just wouldn't get on the plane. Well, you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.

See also: can, horse, water

---

lead a double life

to have a second, secret life that is usually not socially acceptable. The investigation uncovered details of Boley's double life, including secret bank accounts and a private post office box.

Usage notes: also used with the verb live: Nobody in France seemed to really care that he lived a double life.

See also: double, life

lead someone astray

1. to influence someone in a negative way. Parents always worry that certain friends will lead their children astray.

2. to cause someone to make a mistake. The police were led astray by some false information.

go astray

See also: astray

lead someone by the nose

to control someone so that they do exactly what you want them to do. He thinks she's perfect, and she leads him around by the nose.

Etymology: based on the way that a cow is sometimes led by rope attached to a ring in its nose

See also: nose

lead someone down the garden path

to deceive someone. Our country has been led down the garden path by the politicians in office.

Etymology: based on the idea that a path in a garden is very pleasant, so someone who is brought along it can be deceived without noticing it

See also: down, garden, path

lead off (something)

to begin something. The shootings led off a month-long gang war in the city. He led off the fourth inning with a home run. I'd like to lead the evening off with a poem.

lead someone on

to deceive someone in order to get what you want from them. She led him on for five months while she was going out with another guy.

toy with someone

lead the pack

to be first or best of a group. For the second week in a row, the new Star Wars movie leads the pack at the box office.

See also: pack

lead the way

1. to be the most popular. For women, a natural look in hairstyles led the way this spring.

2. to be the best. That research group leads the way in developing new software.

See also: way

lead the way (somewhere)

to go first to show how to get somewhere. Joseph led the way to the nearest corner, away from the crowd of people.

See also: way

one thing leads to another

an event or activity results in another that you have usually not planned. I agreed to help him paint his house and one thing led to another until I ended up helping him fix up his kitchen.

See also: another, thing