Lead and Tell

Lead

Lead verb - To point out the way for (someone) especially from a position in front.

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Tell and lead are semantically related. In some cases you can use "Tell" instead a verb "Lead".

Nearby Words: leading, leader, leaden, leadership, leaded

Tell verb - To issue orders to (someone) by right of authority.

Usage example: told us to sit still and wait

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Lead and tell are semantically related. Sometimes you can use "Lead" instead a verb "Tell".

Nearby Words: telling, teller

people	lead people	tell people
children	lead children	tell children
family	lead family	tell family
someone	lead someone	tell someone
Other words: rest, audience, way, world, police, anyone, everyone, humans, viewers, friends, players.

This can lead to an Adults Are Useless scenario, where the child can lead their parents straight to the creature and even talk with it, but the adult simply cannot tell that the creature is there.

Source: Invisible to Adults
You could almost always tell when Ric Ocasek was singing lead on any Cars song, especially on Heartbeat City; listen for an "uh-oh."

Source: Lyrical Tic
Only time will tell where that will lead... Dirty Communists: They are trying to save the world from them!

Source: Franchise / Red Alert 3 Paradox Expanded Universe

Cite this Source

Tell and Lead. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/lead/tell

Lead & Tell. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/lead/tell>.

Tell or Lead. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/lead/tell.

Google Ngram Viewer shows how "lead" and "tell" have occurred on timeline