leader


Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Financial, Acronyms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
Related to leader: manager

ape leader

obsolete A pejorative term for an older single woman; a spinster or old maid. From an old proverb that women who die unmarried are fated to lead apes—considered at the time to be unproductive animals—in hell. At the risk of being labeled an ape leader by ignorant people, I have chosen a life without marriage, and I am perfectly happy to do so. Well, I would rather be an ape leader than trapped in a loveless marriage, like you. Why would you turn down an eligible bachelor like him? It's almost like you want to become an ape leader!
See also: ape, leader

every inch a/the (something)

Fully and completely something; something in every detail. The designer will understand if you want to make more changes—he is every inch a professional. Wow, your costume is great! You look every inch the old Hollywood starlet. I'm not surprised she got a full scholarship to graduate school. After all, she has always been every inch the academic.
See also: every, inch

leader of the pack

The most powerful or influential person in a particular group. I know Tommy is the leader of the pack, which worries me. He's constantly in trouble at school, and I don't want that tendency to rub off on my son. Sure, Joyce has always been the leader of the pack, but she's so bossy! I don't know if I can take much more of her dictating everything we do.
See also: leader, of, pack

loss leader

A product or service offered at or below cost in order to attract customers to a store in the hopes that they will then purchase other items. The supermarket is offering free turkeys as a loss leader, requiring that customers spend over $100 on other items to be eligible for the promotion. Our affordable phone repair service has always served as a loss leader for us. We undercharge for the service because most customers end up purchasing accessories or insurance plans for their devices to ensure they don't break in the future.
See also: leader, loss

take me to your leader

cliché A catchphrase associated with the arrival of an extraterrestrial being, uttered upon its first encounter with humanity. The phrase is thought to originate in a humorous cartoon by Alex Graham published in The New Yorker in 1953, in which two space aliens encounter a horse in a field and exclaim, "Kindly take us to your President!" It's a cheesy sci-fi B movie about a Martian invasion. In the opening scene, a spaceship crash lands in a field, and the Martian who emerges tells a farmer, "Take me to your leader." For Halloween, Tommy decided to dress up as an alien. Every time he saw someone, he would go up to them and say, "Take me to your leader!"
See also: leader, take, to

the leader of the free world

1. The United States of America, especially in relation to international politics. Sometimes capitalized. Ever since the Cold War, America has prided itself on being known as the Leader of the Free World. Some people feel that our country has a responsibility, as the leader of the free world, to help shape the way countries across the globe do business.
2. By extension, the President of the United States of America. Sometimes capitalized. Since he was a young boy, Gerald had dreamed of someday becoming the leader of the free world.
See also: free, leader, of, world
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

every ˌinch a/the ˈleader, ˈstar, ˈhero, etc.

a leader, star, hero, etc. in every way; completely a leader, star, hero, etc: She is every inch a movie star. ♢ That horse looks every inch a winner. ♢ He looked every inch the romantic hero.
See also: every, inch
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
See also:
References in classic literature ?
For us that movement of the peoples from west to east, without leaders, with a crowd of vagrants, and with Peter the Hermit, remains incomprehensible.
View in context
When the young leader lay in the snow and moved no more, One Eye stalked over to the she-wolf.
Running at the forefront of the pack was a large grey wolf--one of its several leaders. It was he who directed the pack's course on the heels of the she-wolf.
View in context
Amid the varied fortunes of the combat, the eyes of all endeavoured to discover the leaders of each band, who, mingling in the thick of the fight, encouraged their companions both by voice and example.
It was, indeed, only the relics and embers of the fight which continued to burn; for of the few knights who still continued in the lists, the greater part had, by tacit consent, forborne the conflict for some time, leaving it to be determined by the strife of the leaders.
View in context
Mowgli could hear the voice of the tailless leader bidding his people hold on and kill out every wolf in Seeonee.
Again Mowgli dived, and again a dhole went under, and rose dead, and again the clamour broke out at the rear of the pack; some howling that it was best to go ashore, others calling on their leader to lead them back to the Dekkan, and others bidding Mowgli show himself and he killed.
I have filled these dogs' mouths with dirt; I have tricked them in the broad daylight, and their leader lacks his tail, but here be some few for thee still.
View in context
Neither Number Thirteen nor any of his crew had ever before seen a boat, and outside of the leader there was scarcely enough brains in the entire party to render it at all likely that they could ever navigate it, but the young man saw that the other prahus were being propelled by the long sticks which protruded from their sides, and he also saw the sails bellying with wind, though he had but a vague conception of their purpose.
View in context
She forgot her child in the eruption of battle that had broken upon her quiet street, And she forgot the strikers, and everything else, in amazement at what had happened to the round-bellied, cigar-smoking leader. In some strange way, she knew not how, his head had become wedged at the neck between the tops of the pickets of her fence.
And as she looked, she saw the round-bellied leader, still wedged by the neck between the pickets, draw a revolver with his free hand, and, squinting horribly sidewise, press the muzzle against Chester's side.
The round-bellied leader still leered at her and fluttered one hand, though two big policemen were just bending to extricate him.
View in context
The black civilly volunteered his services to take off the leaders, and the Judge very earnestly seconded the measure with his advice.
You know that I broke the leaders myself, and the pole-horses are too near my whip to be restive.
It was not in the nature of the Frenchman to disappoint expectations so confidently formed; although he cat looking down the precipice which fronted him, as Richard turned his leaders into the quarry, with a pair of eyes that stood out like those of lobsters.
View in context
Idioms browser ?
Full browser ?