Quietly withdraw lead (7)
I believe the answer is:
precede
'lead' is the definition.
(I know that lead is a kind of lead)
'quietly withdraw' is the wordplay.
'quietly' becomes 'p' (p for piano and quiet).
'withdraw' becomes 're-cede' (synonyms).
'p'+'recede'='PRECEDE'
(Other definitions for precede that I've seen before include "Go ahead of" , "go before the others" , "Come/go before" , "Come or go before" , "Occur before" .)