How to Use lead time in a Sentence

lead time

noun
Definition of lead timenext
  • We will need at least six months lead time before production begins.
  • While many of the pies on this list ship within a few days, some have a longer lead time.
    — Kathleen Felton, Better Homes & Gardens, 17 Nov. 2023
  • Keep in Mind: This bed has a lead time of eight to 12 weeks from the time of ordering.
    — Maria Conti, Better Homes & Gardens, 27 Jan. 2023
  • Muhammad ran a world-leading time to win the Olympic trials and earn a spot on the team.
    — Los Angeles Times, 18 Oct. 2019
  • The routines last only a minute or so, but there isn’t much lead time.
    — David Wharton, Los Angeles Times, 16 May 2022
  • For rural areas, the lead time can be as much as five days.
    — Steve Banker, Forbes, 3 Mar. 2021
  • In China, the cheaper models have a lead time of 2 days.
    — Chris Smith, BGR, 29 Nov. 2022
  • And yes, the NWS has been on top of storm warnings -- offering lots of lead time.
    — Ian Livingston, Washington Post, 29 July 2023
  • Floods are harder, with a much shorter lead time, as storms or fronts stall.
    — Paul Douglas, Star Tribune, 21 July 2021
  • The normal lead time for commercial ads was four to six months, and now it’s been cut down to two or three.
    — Phil Wahba, Fortune, 26 May 2023
  • Strong conceded that there was less lead time for the Jan. 3 snowstorm than is often the case.
    — Washington Post, 13 Jan. 2022
  • Each chair is made to order, so expect a lead time of six weeks, plus time for shipping.
    — Los Angeles Times, 4 Nov. 2021
  • Why does data indicate that the lead time has dropped since 2011?
    — USA Today, 17 June 2021
  • The offer is valid until the end of August and requires a 14-day lead time for booking.
    — Doug Gollan, Forbes, 4 May 2021
  • Part of the problem is the lead time needed to make influenza vaccines.
    — Maggie Fox, CNN, 16 Dec. 2021
  • Interest in an item dropped by almost 40 percent when the lead time upped from two to five days.
    — Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 1 Mar. 2022
  • The seven working days lead time allowed the company to pull shipments out in front of the lock down.
    — Steve Banker, Forbes, 12 Aug. 2022
  • Wastewater testing can predict new outbreaks with a lead time of one to two weeks.
    — William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 13 Sep. 2021
  • Start the process at least three months in advance of the actual holiday (giving more lead time for busier times of the year).
    — Danielle Sabrina, Forbes, 18 July 2022
  • Yes In our experience, the bigger the furniture, the longer the lead time, but that's where Amazon comes in.
    — Jessica Cherner, House Beautiful, 22 Dec. 2022
  • Last year this was much more present in the mind of the consumers and the ecosystem; although with the long lead time on products much of the broad strokes would have been in place before the rise of Covid-19.
    — Ewan Spence, Forbes, 14 Sep. 2021
  • Most of the changes affect TV productions as opposed to feature films, which have a much longer lead time.
    — Anousha Sakouistaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 23 Feb. 2023
  • The lead time has also grown: A five-day track forecast today is as accurate as a three-day one was in 2001.
    — Alejandra Borunda, National Geographic, 23 Oct. 2020
  • With Coleman out of the mix, the path gets clearer for American Noah Lyles, who has the world’s leading time this year at 19.50 seconds.
    — Eddie Pells, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Sep. 2019
  • There’s a lead time to bring back and extend operations.
    — Dan Runkevicius, Forbes, 21 May 2021
  • Likely won't be that long, but large orders (corporate stuff) should plan on a long lead time.
    — Samuel Axon, Ars Technica, 11 Mar. 2020
  • There’s also a timing issue — even once they are reopened, there will still be a long lead time to get shows on sale and routed to the venues.
    — Dave Brooks, Billboard, 6 Aug. 2020
  • The lead time to book and cancel is also longer, and providers can shift departure times by as much as plus or minus six hours.
    — Doug Gollan, Forbes, 11 July 2022
  • The lead time for tornado warnings is often less than 10 minutes, and progress has been frustratingly slow, especially when compared to other types of severe weather.
    — Umair Irfan, Vox, 21 June 2024
  • As consumers expect faster delivery and near-immediate gratification, the longer lead times for goods produced by factories thousands of miles away can mean lost sales.
    — Shannon K. O'Neil, Foreign Affairs, 21 June 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lead time.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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