lede

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lede

(lēd)

The introductory portion of a news story, especially the first sentence.

[Obsolete spelling of lead, revived in modern journalism to distinguish the word from its homograph lead, strip of metal separating lines of type.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Lede

persons collectively—Beowulf, 971; one’s own people, race, nation, or countrymen; vassals.

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Noun

lede - the introductory section of a story; "it was an amusing lead-in to a very serious matter"

lead-in, lead

news article, news story, newspaper article - an article reporting news

section, subdivision - a self-contained part of a larger composition (written or musical); "he always turns first to the business section"; "the history of this work is discussed in the next section"

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References in periodicals archive ?

Apply this test: Would you turn your head to see the sight you're describing in the anecdotal lede? Would you cross the street to see it?

Ax your anecdotal lede and GTTP. (Symposium Secrets to Stronger Editorials)

Speaking to Khaleej Times, 67-year- old Abdul Mothalab, who is a revered figure among the Rohingya refugees in the Lede area of Cox's Bazar, said Suu Kyi is still the only hope for his suffering people.

Rohingya refugees still counting on Suu Kyi to save them

The Los Angeles Times' "Top of the Ticket" blog merely cited the "Lede" item, although it noted the L.A.

UPDATED: Altered Iran Missile Test Photo Makes Front Pages -- Corrections Slow in Coming -- Did Launch Fail?

Lede is legitimate usage if you choose to agree with Richard Weiner in his Webster's New World Dictionary of Media and Communications (Macmillan, 1996), where the variant term is defined as "the correct, original spelling (though it is rarely used) for lead, as used in journalism.

Business English is a useful art, not a fine art; its purpose is to gain profit. (Wood on Words)

Wat my verder ontstel, is dat baie vroulike lede van die parlement stilbly.

Burgerlike samelewing geskok deur parlementere debat oor Bekamping van Huishoudelike Geweld Wetsontwerp

A pagination system, for example, could be told to pull the lede and nut graf from the Sunday Starr/Lewinsky/Clinton roundup for the last 1,473 weeks, and use them to construct a timeline to accompany today's A1 story.

Have it your way

Just so I don't bury the lede, here's what the Lee earnings release says in effect: In 2000, when Pulitzer bought out its JOA partner -- the Newhouse family, incorporated for this purpose as the Herald Co.

Another JOA Out -- Not With A Bang, But A Whimper

A friend of mine in the music business read the piece and called to say how the lede evoked in him Louis Armstrong's response to the person who'd asked for his definition of jazz: "Man, if you gotta ask, you'll never know."

A cow is a female bovine; a bull is a male cow; is that like a bum steer? (Wood On Words)

For a journalist, it is imperative to get the audience's - and the editor's - attention with the lead (or lede as it's often called, to distinguish it from a police clue or something that comes out of a pencil).

Brick by brick

The lede to your brief piece on Wednesday night's Clinton-Obama debate could not have stated the sorry state of that affair better.The performance of Gibson and Stephanopolous was to serious journalism as, say, Penthouse Magazine is to women's studies.

TODAY'S LETTERS: More On The Latest Presidential Debate

This Boston Globe lede from the editorial page of 2/27/2K2 will prompt a prompt j'accuse from advocates of economy-class prose.