ringleader : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: ringleader	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for ringleader
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
ringleader n a person who leads (especially in illicit activities)
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Ringleader \Ring"lead`er\, n. 1. The leader of a circle of dancers; hence, the leader of a number of persons acting together; the leader of a herd of animals. A primacy of order, such an one as the ringleader hath in a dance. --Barrow. 2. Opprobriously, a leader of a body of men engaged in the violation of law or in an illegal enterprise, as rioters, mutineers, or the like. The ringleaders were apprehended, tried, fined, and imprisoned. --Macaulay.