Be no longer in the lead? (5)
I believe the answer is:
exist
'be' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'no longer in the lead?' is the wordplay.
'no longer' becomes 'ex' (prefix meaning former or onetime).
'in the lead?' becomes 'ist' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'ex'+'ist'='EXIST'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for exist that I've seen before include "Scrape by" , "Get a life!" , "Have being or continue living" , "Be alive" , "Live" .)