A lead, or lede, paragraph in literature is the opening paragraph of an article, essay, news story or book chapter. Often called the lead, it usually occurs together with the headline or title. It precedes the main body of the article, and it gives the reader the main idea of the story. In both spellings, the word rhymes with the word need.
In the journalism industry, particularly in the United States (see News style), the term is spelled "lede". The alternative spelling was invented to differentiate it from the metal lead (pronounced led), which was used in hot metal typesetting.
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