level

American  

[lev-uhl] / ˈlɛv əl /

adjective

1. having no part higher than another; having a flat or even surface.

   Synonyms:

   flush

   Antonyms:

   uneven

2. being in a plane parallel to the plane of the horizon; horizontal.

   Synonyms:

   flush

   Antonyms:

   vertical

3. equal, as one thing with another or two or more things with one another.

4. even, equable, or uniform.

5. filled to a height even with the rim of a container.

   a level teaspoon of salt.

6. mentally well-balanced; sensible; rational.

   to keep a level head in a crisis.

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noun

• levels
  plural

1. a device used for determining or adjusting something to a horizontal surface.

2. Surveying.

   1. Also called surveyor's level.  an instrument for observing levels, having a sighting device, usually telescopic, and capable of being made precisely horizontal.

   2. an observation made with this instrument.

   3. spirit level.

3. an imaginary line or surface everywhere at right angles to the plumb line.

4. the horizontal line or plane in which anything is situated, with regard to its elevation.

5. a horizontal position or condition.

6. an extent of land approximately horizontal and unbroken by irregularities.

7. a level or flat surface.

8. a position with respect to a given or specified height.

   The water rose to a level of 30 feet.

9. a position or plane in a graded scale of values; status; rank: They associated only with those on their own economic level.

   His acting was on the level of an amateur.

   They associated only with those on their own economic level.

10. an extent, measure, or degree of intensity, achievement, etc..

    a high level of sound; an average level of writing skill.

11. Linguistics. a major subdivision of linguistic structure, as phonology, morphology, or syntax, often viewed as hierarchically ordered.

12. Mining. the interconnected horizontal mine workings at a particular elevation or depth.

    There had been a cave-in on the 1,500-foot level.

13. (in a video game or role-playing game)

    1. a discrete section in game design or narrative that ends with a culminating event, as a boss battle.

    2. character level.

verb (used with object)

leveled, leveling, levelled, levelling

1. to make (a surface) level, even, or flat.

   to level ground before building.

   Synonyms:

   flatten, smooth

2. to raise or lower to a particular level or position; to make horizontal.

3. to bring (something) to the level of the ground; raze.

   They leveled the trees to make way for the new highway.

   Synonyms:

   destroy, demolish, raze

4. Informal. to knock down (a person).

   He leveled his opponent with one blow.

5. to make equal, as in status or condition.

   Synonyms:

   equalize

6. to make even or uniform, as coloring.

7. Historical Linguistics. (of the alternative forms of a paradigm) to reduce in number or regularize.

   Old English “him” (dative) and “hine” (accusative) have been leveled to Modern English “him.”

8. to aim or point (a weapon, criticism, etc.) at a mark or objective.

   He leveled his criticism at the college as a whole.

   Synonyms:

   direct

9. Surveying. to find the relative elevation of different points in (land), as with a level.

verb (used without object)

leveled, leveling, levelled, levelling

1. to bring things or persons to a common level.

2. to aim a weapon, criticism, etc., at a mark or objective.

3. Surveying.

   1. to take a level.

   2. to use a leveling instrument.

4. to speak truthfully and openly (often followed bywith ).

   You're not leveling with me about your trip to Chicago.

5. Obsolete. to direct the mind, purpose, etc., at something.

adverb

1. Obsolete. in a level, direct, or even way or line.

verb phrase

1. level off

   1. Aeronautics. to maintain a constant altitude after a climb or descent.

   2. to become stable; reach a constant or limit.

   3. to make even or smooth.

2. level up

   1. (in a video game or tabletop game) to obtain a higher character level or skill rank, or improve the quality or performance statistics of an object, as a weapon.

   2. to perform at a higher standard than expected, or show vast improvement: Your date is smokin’ hot—way to level up, bro!

      It’s possible for a small business to level up and land big clients.

      Your date is smokin’ hot—way to level up, bro!

idioms

1. on the level, honest; sincere; reliable.

   Is this information on the level?

2. one's level best, one's very best; one's utmost.

   We tried our level best to get here on time.

3. find one's (own) level, to attain the place or position merited by one's abilities or achievements.

   He finally found his level as one of the directors of the firm.

level British  

/ ˈlɛvəl /

adjective

1. on a horizontal plane

2. having a surface of completely equal height

3. being of the same height as something else

4. (of quantities to be measured, as in recipes) even with the top of the cup, spoon, etc

5. equal to or even with (something or someone else)

6. not having or showing inconsistency or irregularities

7. Also: level-headed.  even-tempered; steady

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verb

1. to make (a surface) horizontal, level, or even

2. to make (two or more people or things) equal, as in position or status

3. (tr) to raze to the ground

4. (tr) to knock (a person) down by or as if by a blow

5. (tr) to direct (a gaze, criticism, etc) emphatically at someone

6. informal to be straightforward and frank

7. (intr; foll by off or out) to manoeuvre an aircraft into a horizontal flight path after a dive, climb, or glide

8. (often foll by at) to aim (a weapon) horizontally

9. surveying to determine the elevation of a section of (land), sighting through a levelling instrument to a staff at successive pairs or points

noun

1. a horizontal datum line or plane

2. a device, such as a spirit level, for determining whether a surface is horizontal

3. a surveying instrument consisting basically of a telescope with a spirit level attached, used for measuring relative heights of land See Abney level dumpy level

4. a reading of the difference in elevation of two points taken with such an instrument

5. position or status in a scale of values

6. amount or degree of progress; stage

7. a specified vertical position; altitude

8. a horizontal line or plane with respect to which measurement of elevation is based

   sea level

9. a flat even surface or area of land

10. a horizontal passage or drift in a mine

11. any of the successive layers of material that have been deposited with the passage of time to build up and raise the height of the land surface

12. physics the ratio of the magnitude of a physical quantity to an arbitrary magnitude

    sound-pressure level

13. to make every possible effort; try one's utmost

14. to find one's most suitable place socially, professionally, etc

15. on the same horizontal plane as another

16. informal sincere, honest, or genuine

level More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing level

• do one's (level) best
• on the level

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Synonym Usage

Level, even, flat, smooth suggest a uniform surface without marked unevenness. That which is level is parallel to the horizon: a level surface; A billiard table must be level. Flat is applied to any plane surface free from marked irregularities: a flat roof. With reference to land or country, flat connotes lowness or unattractiveness; level does not suggest anything derogatory. That which is even is free from irregularities, though not necessarily level or plane: an even land surface with no hills. Smooth suggests a high degree of evenness in any surface, especially to the touch and sometimes to the sight: as smooth as silk.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• levelness
  noun
• unlevelness
  noun
• relevel
  verb
• antileveling
  adjective
• antilevelling
  adjective
• interlevel
  adjective
• nonlevel
  adjective
• self-leveling
  adjective
• self-levelling
  adjective
• underlevel
  adjective
• unlevel
  adjective
• unleveled
  adjective
• unlevelled
  adjective
• well-leveled
  adjective
• well-levelled
  adjective
• levelly
  adverb
• unlevelly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• levels
  plural

Etymology

Origin of level

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English noun, variant of livel, from Middle French, from unattested Vulgar Latin lībellum, for Latin lībella “plummet line, level,” diminutive of lībra “balance, scales”; the verb is derived from the noun

Explanation

A level is a position in a scale. Attaining a high level of unemployment is depressing, but getting to a high level on a video game is exciting. The verb level also means to flatten or destroy. For example, a mighty wind will level a grove of trees or a wrecking ball can level a building. As a noun, level notes the position of something on a scale of intensity. You feel a rising level of temperature as the sun gets higher in the sky. As an adjective, level describes something that is even and flat. A level path is easy to walk on.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

level levels leveled leveling levelled levelling

Even so, Anak Krakatau remained at the second-highest alert level on Indonesia's volcanic warning scale, a status it has held since early July.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 18, 2026

Do you require a man who is romantic, who takes you places, who claims you at a higher level?

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026

"The relationship between the UK and Ireland matters so much on every single level," he said.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

If the S&P 500 were to return to the valuation reached during the 2025 tariff shock, the index would trade near 18 times forward earnings, implying an S&P level around 7,200, Truist calculates.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026

Another analyzes the intelligence in each message: what it means, level of priority, who needs to see it.

From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin

Mice with less Menin had lower levels of D-serine, an amino acid that helps activate receptors involved in learning and memory.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 18, 2026

“We believe long-end investors will continue to demand healthy levels of term premium given elevated nominal GDP growth, large fiscal deficits, and the Fed’s willingness to tolerate inflation modestly above 2%,” McVey wrote.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026

Gas prices near their highest levels since 2022.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

The energy levels were low, the booing was loud and the feeling of a side with no answers was unmissable.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

It wound in a spiral, with stores and restaurants on different levels.

From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen

But last year, growth leveled off, and management said the company had “more work to do to reinvigorate this brand and get it back on its historical growth trajectory.”

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026

Allegations of undisclosed AI use have been leveled against the author of this year’s Commonwealth Short Story Prize winner.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

As the interactions grew stronger, collision-driven resistivity eventually leveled off instead of continuing to rise.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 31, 2026

The same accusation was leveled at Anthropic when it held back the public release of its powerful Mythos model over cybersecurity concerns.

From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026

“The charges leveled against my client are preposterous,” he said.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

More recent research, however, suggests that this long upward trend may now be leveling off in developed countries.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026

Or, if you prefer softer spuds, Danny also has a genius tip for leveling up your potato salad.

From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2026

The State and Treasury departments announced they are leveling additional penalties against nine state-owned mining, metal and construction companies.

From Salon ● Aug. 21, 2026

But now, more states are leveling the playing field.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026

Betsie and I were put to work leveling some rough ground just inside the camp wall.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

Ruben Love levelled the scores from bang in front.

From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026

Some will inevitably say this was another example of Ferrari messing up their strategy, an accusation that is levelled at them quite often.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

The Producer Price Index was unchanged in July from June levels, suggesting that factory-gate inflation levelled off before the latest uptick in oil futures.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

The 35-year-old Englishman has often been accused of not showing enough killer instinct in the key moments of majors - and that could be levelled at him again this week.

From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026

Now Mama, who had stood by accepting their shrugs for answers, levelled her gaze at each of them.

From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez

The hosts were denied a shot at levelling the match when Bautista Delguy's 83rd-minute try was controversially chalked off.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

Argentina seized control, with Enzo Fernandez levelling in the 85th minute before Lautaro Martinez headed Lionel Messi's cross home in stoppage time to complete a remarkable comeback.

From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026

Brussels insists the measure is not targeted at China, nor any other country for that matter, but is about levelling the playing field.

From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026

Haaland only needed one game to become Norway's joint all-time leading scorer at the World Cup - levelling with Kjetil Rekdal.

From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026

It was built by a Byzantine architect on the flanks of a hill, three miles north-east of Cordova, which the khalifa at one time thought of levelling.

From Southern Spain by A. F. (Albert Frederick) Calvert

Related Words

• bulldoze
• devastate
• drop
• equalize
• fell
• flatten
• raze
• ruin
• wreck