cheerleader

American  

[cheer-lee-der] / ˈtʃɪərˌli dər /

noun

1. a person who leads spectators in cheering, usually a member of a team that performs dance, acrobatic, and tumbling routines at sporting events or in competitions with other teams.

2. a person who encourages and openly supports the success of a person or cause.

   Her dad has always been her biggest cheerleader.

   He emerged as a cheerleader for the rights of the incarcerated.

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cheerleader British  

/ ˈtʃɪəˌliːdə /

noun

1. a person who leads a crowd in formal cheers, esp at sports events

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Etymology

Origin of cheerleader

An Americanism dating back to 1900–05; cheer + leader

Example Sentences

I’m nothing like those cheerleader girls that guys like him go for, with their perfect hair and makeup, shoes that match their shirts.

From Literature

Then, sufficiently disturbed, he hauls in the AI cheerleaders, a suspiciously positive gang who can envision only medical miracles and grindless lives in which we’re all full-time artists.

From Los Angeles Times

Three cheerleaders from the University of Kent are among those in hospital, according to a team member, and supermarket chain Morrisons said that a member of its staff who attended Club Chemistry had contracted meningitis.

From BBC

Three cheerleaders from the University of Kent are within the group of people in hospital, a member of the society has said.

From BBC

I’m close to my dad, and my dad is, I would also say a vulnerability cheerleader, and a very refreshingly emotional Englishman.

From Los Angeles Times