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to cheerlead

to cheerlead

8 5.1
Lead cheers and encourage a team at a sports event
  • verb
  • /ˈtʃɪrˌlid/
translation icon : animar
  • We've seen the day now that people are actually cheerleading for Mitt Romney for President.

Examples

  • During the final match, the fans encouraged their team by cheerleading loudly from the stands.

  • Tell them you wanna cheerlead.

  • - Oh, well, I cheerleaded a bit at my high school, but...

  • We need to band together and cheerlead the others into registering their copyright.

    Blog text (17)
  • You were cheerleading captain at Ridgefield?

  • My beautiful 18-year-old daughter has been cheerleading since kindergarten in the Smyrna area.

    Blog text (30)
  • She decided to cheerlead for her school's basketball team during their championship game.

  • The coach asked him to cheerlead from the sidelines to motivate the players.

Synonyms

to barrack
vsto cheerlead
  • UK
7.9

To shout or cheer to support someone at a game

leads organised chants and coordinates the audience to support the team
to root on
vsto cheerlead
  • UK
6.5

To cheer for someone loudly to show support

lead and organise chants and focused encouragement rather than only shouting
to act like a cheerleader
vsto cheerlead
7.4

To give loud, cheerful support to someone to encourage them

perform organised chants at sports events rather than general vocal backing

Antonyms

257 3.5

To try to stop something by making people less willing to do it

How Enthusiastic

to cheerlead
8 5.1
to cheer
356 1.0
to encourage
2.3

Surface Forms

cheerlead infinitive
cheerled past
cheerled past participle
cheerleading present participle
cheerleads third person singular

Morphology

cheerlead = cheer + lead (transparent) = cheer + lead

The verb's meaning is directly the combination of 'cheer' + 'lead' (to lead cheers), which is easily inferable by learners who know the base words.

Etymology

Cheerlead combines cheer 'a shout of support' and lead 'to guide', so it simply means to 'lead the cheering' and encourage a team.