leading edge

noun

"leading-edge" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“leading edge” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
12
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The frontmost edge of a wing or other airfoil of an aircraft; sometimes contains slots or slats.

Corpus desk

Index EN-leading-edge · leading edge · English

leading edge · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "L" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for leading edge
PropertyValue
Headwordleading edge
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters12
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “leading edge” in English

leading edgeranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

leading edge is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

leading edge has no tracked misspelling variants, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is leading edge, spelled L-E-A-D-I-N-G- -E-D-G-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    The frontmost edge of a wing or other airfoil of an aircraft; sometimes contains slots or slats.
  2. 2
    The foremost part of any physical object.
  3. 3
    The foremost part of a trend etc; a vanguard.
  4. 4
    The forefront of practice or technology.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how leading edge appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. the leading edge of a cricket bat
  2. DiBattista advocated balanced webmastery: Don't go to the leading edge if it forces users to buy the latest and greatest Web stuff.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "leading edge"?
"leading edge" is spelled L-E-A-D-I-N-G- -E-D-G-E.
What does "leading edge" mean?
As a noun, "leading edge" means: The frontmost edge of a wing or other airfoil of an aircraft; sometimes contains slots or slats.
What language does "leading edge" come from?
"leading edge" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list