lever
noun
a rigid bar that pivots about one point and that is used to move an object at a second point by a force applied at a third.
lever
1 American
[lev-er, lee-ver]
/ ˈlɛv ər, ˈli vər /
noun
-
levers
plural
-
Mechanics. a rigid bar that pivots about one point and that is used to move an object at a second point by a force applied at a third.
-
a tool, as a pry or a crowbar, for raising, moving, or opening something by leverage.
There's a small lever in my toolbox that'll be perfect for prying off these narrow moldings.
-
a handle or bar that is manipulated to operate, control, or adjust a machine, mechanism, etc..
Pushing down the lever on the left will automatically open the door.
-
a means or agency of persuading or of achieving an end.
Saying that the chairman of the board likes the plan is just a lever to get us to support it.
-
Horology. the pallet of an escapement.
verb (used with or without object)
-
levers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
levered,
past participle, past
-
levering
present participle
Lever
2
American
[lee-ver]
/ ˈli vər /
noun
lever
British
/ ˈliːvə /
noun
-
a rigid bar pivoted about a fulcrum, used to transfer a force to a load and usually to provide a mechanical advantage
-
any of a number of mechanical devices employing this principle
-
a means of exerting pressure in order to accomplish something; strategic aid
verb
lever
Scientific
/ lĕv′ər /
-
A simple machine consisting of a bar that pivots on a fixed support, or fulcrum, and is used to transmit torque. A force applied by pushing down on one end of the lever results in a force pushing up at the other end. If the fulcrum is not positioned in the middle of the lever, then the force applied to one end will not yield the same force on the other, since the torque must be the same on either side of the fulcrum. Levers, like gears, can thus be used to increase the force available from a mechanical power source.
-
See more at fulcrum See also mechanical advantage
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
leversimple
-
leverssimple
-
have leveredperfect
-
has leveredperfect
-
am leveringprogressive
-
are leveringprogressive
-
is leveringprogressive
-
have been leveringperfect progressive
-
has been leveringperfect progressive
Past
-
leveredsimple
-
had leveredperfect
-
was leveringprogressive
-
were leveringprogressive
-
had been leveringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of lever
1250–1300; Middle English levere, levour for *lever < Anglo-French; Old French levier, equivalent to lev ( er ) to lift (< Latin levāre to lighten, lift, verbal derivative of levis light) + -ier -ier 2
Explanation
A lever is a handle, sticking out at an angle, that allows you to operate a machine or close a door. When you pull the lever of a voting booth, you both cast your ballot and open the curtain. All kinds of things — particularly machines — have levers. The word is also used to describe anything that you are able to use to move or influence someone else: think leverage. A headline in The New York Times said the government would use its contracts with private companies as a "wage lever," meaning the government would try to improve wages by giving work and money to companies that paid well and provided generous benefits. Levers get things done.
Vocabulary lists containing lever
Word Generation Science - Energy
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Force and Motion (Mechanics) - Middle School
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Force and Motion (Mechanics) - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"But this is a lever that is sort of unexplored insofar as targeting anything touching the US dollar that is also touching Iran," Parker added.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
“Now they have an entirely different lever to pull to maximize profitability,” which is a positive development for their business.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
This has eluded neuroscience for decades, but the introduction of a new class of drugs for weight loss may have given us just the lever we need to understand it.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026
Two Glencore off-take/prepayment agreements provide additional liquidity lever, it adds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
She turned the machine lever and started to call the numbers.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
Kalshi has a ban on those practices and has banned markets tied directly to death and war, Lever said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026
A sale would mark the biggest portfolio shake-up for Unilever since it was created nearly a century ago through the merger of Dutch group Margarine Unie and British soap maker Lever Bros.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
Raymond Illingworth's triumphant visitors to Australia in 1970-71 had Bob Willis, Peter Lever and John Snow, and the England team that won in 1954-55 included Brian Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson.
From BBC ● Nov. 19, 2025
According to an analysis from Lever, an investigative newsroom, the private insurance giant Humana — one of the largest providers of Medicare Advantage plans — recorded $2.8 billion in profits in 2022.
From Salon ● Sep. 3, 2024
He smells like a perfect combination of Lever soap and Old Spice.
From "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas
"Body weight responds to two levers: taking in fewer calories, or spending more energy," said Anders Näär, a professor of metabolic biology and nutrition at UC Berkeley and senior author of the study.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 23, 2026
One of the only remaining levers available is in the hands of the American people.
From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026
"Players are becoming their own distribution levers, with some in particular taking a driving seat in terms of 'how I project myself onto the world' and building their own channels and audience," explains Kyle.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
“If we see levers or a path that we believe would create superior value for our shareholders than executing our current strategy, we will, of course, carefully consider them,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
He sensed Celestial bronze gears, magical levers, springs, and pistons.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
Still, Goldman executives prized Situational, they told clients, though the bank monitored the fund because its portfolio was so concentrated and levered, according to a person familiar with the matter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
That includes more than 400 levered single-stock ETFs.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
U.S. notional volume of levered ETFs is about $90 billion, up from almost nothing a decade ago, per Goldman Sachs data.
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
But a well-worked wrap-around move off first-phase ball, levered open a corridor of space for Breach to streak away to score and suck the life out the stadium.
From BBC ● May 17, 2026
I brought my weight down on the rear-bar and pulled and rocked and levered the sledge back away from the edge of the crevasse.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
Gerstner expressed concerns that investors are “layering up” right now, noting that “there are 14 exchange-traded funds launching on the day of the SpaceX IPO,” some of which are aimed at levering returns.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 8, 2026
If it is to play a game-changing role in levering in private investment, its £8.3bn funding over five years will have a lot of heavy lifting to do.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2024
By employing bioinformatics analyses and levering diverse public datasets, the team validated the robustness of HK-CREs across 50 randomly selected healthy cell types, confirming the location of HK-CREs within the genome.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 5, 2024
The person briefed on Muscat’s confession said Muscat alleges Alfred broke into the car by levering open the rear-quarter window passenger side.
From Reuters ● Nov. 28, 2019
Pearl wielded the tools with expert hands, levering the side panels into place against the headboard, propping them up on one ankle while she bolted them into place.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
