Meaning & use
spearhead
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To lead a campaign, project or attack and drive it forward from the front.
Grammar: Always takes an object: spearhead a campaign.
Patterns
- spearhead something
- spearhead a drive to do something
Dr. Lopez will spearhead the new vaccination program.
A group of parents spearheaded the push for a safer crossing.
The general spearheaded the attack across the river.
nouncountable
The person, group or unit that leads an effort or an attack.
Grammar: Usually followed by of: the spearhead of the movement.
Patterns
- the spearhead of something
- form the spearhead
Tank units formed the spearhead of the advance.
The young activists were the spearhead of the reform movement.
Our team is the spearhead of the company's expansion into Asia.
Word forms
| third person singular | spearheads |
|---|---|
| past tense | spearheaded |
| past participle | spearheaded |
| -ing form | spearheading |
| plural | spearheads |
Common combinations
- spearhead a campaign
- She spearheaded a campaign to save the library.
- spearhead an effort
- The mayor agreed to spearhead the cleanup effort.
- spearhead a movement
- Students spearheaded the movement against the new fees.
- spearhead an attack
- Armored units were chosen to spearhead the attack.
- spearhead an initiative
- He will spearhead the company's green initiative.
Synonyms and how they differ
- lead
- Lead is the plain everyday word, while spearhead adds the idea of being first in front and pushing the effort forward.
- head
- Head stresses being in charge of a group, but spearhead stresses starting and driving a specific drive or attack.
- pioneer
- Pioneer means doing something for the first time, whereas spearhead can describe leading something that already has a goal.
- champion
- Champion means to publicly support a cause, while spearhead means actually doing the leading work.
Opposites
Word family
- spearheaded adjective
- led by a particular person or group, as in a council-spearheaded plan
- spear noun
- a long weapon with a pointed head
Commonly confused: spearhead or spearmint?
spearhead vs spearmint
Spearmint is a type of mint plant used for flavoring and has nothing to do with leading an effort.
Practice
The principal asked Mr. Chen to ___ the new reading scheme across the school.
Choose one answer.
Spearhead means to lead and drive a project from the front, which fits being asked to run a scheme. Follow would mean the opposite role.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “spearhead”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.