as in first
coming before all others in time or order
the leadoff batter
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to begin
to take the first step in (a process or course of action)
plans to lead off the news conference with a prepared statement
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Examples of leadoff in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 11 Aug. 2024
No, Caped Crusader wastes no time in making its intentions plain by leading off its credits with Bruce Timm, who isn’t as famous as his fellow producers, but whose name means a lot to fans of the single-best Batman screen adaptation of them all: the Nineties stalwart Batman: The Animated Series.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 30 July 2024
Betts led off with a homer to left and Lux, Will Smith and Rojas hitting two-out singles ahead of Kiermaier’s 415-foot, three-run blast to right-center field off reliever Andrew Kittredge, which gave the Dodgers a 7-4 lead.
—Mike Digiovanna, Los Angeles Times, 17 Aug. 2024
And Terrell Davis, the NFL Hall of Famer, was led off a United Airlines flight in handcuffs following an exchange with a flight attendant.
—Christopher Elliott, USA TODAY, 9 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for leadoff 
Verb
Lindor led off the game with a single to left field off Gilbert, only to be erased two batters later, when Martinez grounded into a double play.
—Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 11 Aug. 2024
No, Caped Crusader wastes no time in making its intentions plain by leading off its credits with Bruce Timm, who isn’t as famous as his fellow producers, but whose name means a lot to fans of the single-best Batman screen adaptation of them all: the Nineties stalwart Batman: The Animated Series.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 30 July 2024
Betts led off with a homer to left and Lux, Will Smith and Rojas hitting two-out singles ahead of Kiermaier’s 415-foot, three-run blast to right-center field off reliever Andrew Kittredge, which gave the Dodgers a 7-4 lead.
—Mike Digiovanna, Los Angeles Times, 17 Aug. 2024
And Terrell Davis, the NFL Hall of Famer, was led off a United Airlines flight in handcuffs following an exchange with a flight attendant.
—Christopher Elliott, USA TODAY, 9 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for leadoff
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'leadoff.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Thesaurus Entries Near leadoff
Cite this Entry
“Leadoff.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/leadoff. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.
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