the blind leading the blind: seeblind.

get the lead out move or work more quickly; hurry up. North American informal

☞ This expression originated as mid-20th-century jazz slang, meaning 'play at a brisk speed'. A fuller version is get the lead out of your pants. Renowned for its weight, the metal lead appears in a number of expressions as a metaphor for inertness or heaviness (see, for example, go down like a lead balloon below and swing the lead atswing).

go down (or over) like a lead balloon (especially of a speech, proposal, or joke) fail; be a flop. informal

1996Prospect Simon Jenkins's book, Accountable to None, has gone down like a lead balloon with most Conservative reviewers.

lead someone a dance: seedance.

lead someone by the nose control someone totally, especially by deceiving them. informal

☞ The image here is of an animal being controlled by a restraint round or in the nose. Shakespeare used this expression in Othello (1604): 'The Moor…will as tenderly be led by th'nose As asses are'.

lead from the front take an active role in what you are urging and directing others to do.

lead in your pencil vigour or energy, especially sexual energy in a man. informal

1972Dan LeesZodiac The couscous is supposed to put lead in your pencil but with Daria I needed neither a talking point nor an aphrodisiac.

lead someone up the aisle: seeaisle.

lead someone up the garden path: seegarden.

lead with your chin behave or speak incautiously. informal

☞ This expression originated as mid-20th-century boxing slang, referring to a boxer's stance that leaves his chin unprotected.

swing the lead: seeswing.