lead to

present singular third person leads to · participle present leading to · participle past led to · past led to

1. To be a cause of.

   The shock led to a change in his behaviour.

   1 more example

   The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania.[…]It was used to make kerosene, the main fuel for artificial lighting after overfishing led to a shortage of whale blubber. Other liquids produced in the refining process, too unstable or smoky for lamplight, were burned or dumped.

   2013 August 3, “Yesterday’s fuel”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847

   Synonyms: bring, bring about, bring on, cause, effect, effectuate, generate, induce

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see lead, to.

   The path leads to a pond.

   1 more example

   I led the horse to the barn.