lead story
33
3.0
- noun
- /liːd ˈstɔːri/
- Literature
:
noticia principal
- Tonight's lead story is about the recent changes in healthcare policy that affect millions.
- the lead story
- lead story tonight
- lead story today
Examples
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We always made the news; often as not we were the lead story.
Fiction book (1999) -
So, I'm working on my lead story for tomorrow.
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- I thought I was gonna be the lead story on the evening news.
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Perhaps you may have seen a lead story in The New York Times.
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No, this is not the lead story.
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I need a lead story.
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What IS the lead story?
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I got the lead story.
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Seconds later, I checked here and that is the lead story.
Blog text (18) -
Sports Center, you've got your lead story!
Synonyms
53
4.6
The main story in a news report or newspaper
15
2.7
News on a newspaper's front page that many people talk about
How Important
- Literature
33
3.0
- Literature
155
3.1
- Literature
93
1.1
- Literature
12
2.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is a straightforward compound: 'lead' (meaning main or principal) modifies 'story' (a news item), so the meaning 'the most important news story' is directly derivable from the constituents. This modifier+noun pattern is common across languages and in journalistic contexts, so a B1 learner who knows both word senses should be able to infer the MWE.
Etymology
Lead story comes from the way news is shown: newspaper and TV people put the most important article first, so the lead story is the one that 'leads' and is seen first. That's why lead story means the 'most important news story'.