leverage - Definitions from Dictionary.com

14 results for: leverage

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

lev·er·age

Audio Help [lev-er-ij, lee-ver-] Pronunciation Key noun, verb, -aged, -ag·ing.

–noun

1.	the action of a lever.

2.	the mechanical advantage or power gained by using a lever.

3.	power or ability to act or to influence people, events, decisions, etc.; sway: Being the only industry in town gave the company considerable leverage in its union negotiations.

4.	the use of a small initial investment, credit, or borrowed funds to gain a very high return in relation to one's investment, to control a much larger investment, or to reduce one's own liability for any loss.

–verb (used with object)

5.	to exert power or influence on.

6.	to provide with leverage.

7.	to invest or arrange (invested funds) using leverage.

[Origin: 1715–25; lever + -age

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
leverage

To learn more about leverage visit Britannica.com

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

lev·er·age Audio Help (lěv'ər-ĭj, lē'vər-) Pronunciation Key
n.

1. The action of a lever.
2. The mechanical advantage of a lever.
Positional advantage; power to act effectively: "started his . . . career with far more social leverage than his father had enjoyed" (Doris Kearns Goodwin).
The use of credit or borrowed funds to improve one's speculative capacity and increase the rate of return from an investment, as in buying securities on margin.

tr.v. lev·er·aged, lev·er·ag·ing, lev·er·ag·es

1. To provide (a company) with leverage.
2. To supplement (money, for example) with leverage.
To improve or enhance: "It makes more sense to be able to leverage what we [public radio stations] do in a more effective way to our listeners" (Delano Lewis).

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

leverage
noun
1.	the mechanical advantage gained by being in a position to use a lever
2.	strategic advantage; power to act effectively; "relatively small groups can sometimes exert immense political leverage"
3.	investing with borrowed money as a way to amplify potential gains (at the risk of greater losses)
verb
1.	supplement with leverage; "leverage the money that is already available"
2.	provide with leverage; "We need to leverage this company"

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
ˈleverage1 [-ridʒ] noun

the power gained by the use of a lever

Arabic:	قُوَّة الرافِعَه
Chinese (Simplified):	杠杆率, 杠杆作用
Chinese (Traditional):	杠杆率, 杠杆作用
Czech:	síla páky
Danish:	vægtstangskraft
Dutch:	hefboomkracht
Estonian:	kangi tõstejõud
Finnish:	vipuvoima
French:	force (de levier)
German:	die Hebelkraft
Greek:	η δύναμη που ασκείται με τη χρήση μοχλού
Hungarian:	emelőerő
Icelandic:	vogarafl
Indonesian:	pengungkitan
Italian:	leva

Japanese:	てこの作用
Korean:	지레의 작용; 지레 장치
Latvian:	sviras darbība, *celtspēja
Lithuanian:	sverto, *svirties keliamoji galia
Norwegian:	vektstangkraft
Polish:	siła dźwigni, wpływ
Portuguese (Brazil):	força de alavanca
Portuguese (Portugal):	poder
Romanian:	forţă (a pârghiei)
Russian:	усилие рычага
Slovak:	sila páky
Slovenian:	moč vzvoda
Spanish:	acción de palanca
Swedish:	hävstångskraft
Turkish:	kaldıraç gücü

ˈleverage2 [-ridʒ] noun

power that can be used to influence someone's actions or decisions
Example: The public has some leverage with their representatives in the Senate.

Arabic:	نُفوذ
Chinese (Simplified):	优势，力量
Chinese (Traditional):	优勢，力量
Czech:	vliv
Danish:	indflydelse
Estonian:	mõjuvõim
Greek:	ισχύς, επιρροή
Hungarian:	befolyás
Indonesian:	pengaruh
Italian:	influenza, autorità

Latvian:	iespaids (mērķa sasniegšanai)
Lithuanian:	įtaka, poveikio galia
Norwegian:	innflytelse, makt
Polish:	wpływy
Russian:	средство для достижения цели; влияние
Slovak:	vplyv
Slovenian:	vpliv
Spanish:	influencias
Swedish:	makt, inflytande
Turkish:	nüfuz, güç

See also: lever, "leverage" in any language

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
leverage

The amount in which a purchase is paid for in borrowed money. The greater the leverage, the greater the possible gain or potential loss.

[Chapter:] Business and Economics

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Investopedia - Cite This Source - Share This

Leverage

1. The use of various financial instruments or borrowed capital, such as margin, to increase the potential return of an investment.

2. The amount of debt used to finance a firm's assets. A firm with significantly more debt than equity is considered to be highly leveraged.

Leverage helps both the investor and the firm to invest or operate. It, however, comes with greater risk. If an investor uses leverage to make an investment and the investment moves against the investor, his or her loss is much greater amount than it would've been if the investment were not leveraged - leverage magnifies not only gains but also losses. In the business world, a company can use leverage to generate shareholder wealth, but if it is fails to do so, the interest expense and credit risk of default destroys shareholder value.

Investopedia Commentary

1. Leverage can be created through options, futures, margin and other financial instruments. For example, say you have $1,000 to invest. This amount could be invested in 10 shares of Microsoft stock, but to increase leverage, you could invest the $1,000 in, say, five options contracts. You would then control 500 shares rather than 10.

2. Most companies use debt to finance operations. By doing so a company increases its leverage because it can invest in business operations without increasing its equity. For example if a company formed with an investment of $5 million from investors, the equity in the company is $5 million and this is the money it uses to operate. If the company uses debt financing by borrowing $20 million, the company now has $25 million to invest in business operations, and more opportunity to increase value for shareholders.

Wallstreet Words - Cite This Source - Share This
leverage

The use of fixed costs in order to increase the rate of return from an investment. One example of leverage is buying securities on margin. While leverage can operate toincrease rates of return, it also increases the amount of risk inherent in an investment. See also financial leverage, operating leverage.

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry: le·ver·age
Pronunciation: 'le-vrij, -v&-rij
Function: noun
: the use of credit to enhance one's speculative capacity

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry: leverage
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: -aged; -ag·ing
: to provide (as a corporation) or supplement (as money) with leverage

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Leverage

Lev"er*age\ (l[e^]v"[~e]r*[asl]j or l[=e]"v[~e]r*[asl]j), n. The action of a lever; mechanical advantage gained by the lever.

Leverage of a couple (Mech.), the perpendicular distance between the lines of action of two forces which act in parallel and opposite directions.

Leverage of a force, the perpendicular distance from the line in which a force acts upon a body to a point about which the body may be supposed to turn.

On-line Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

leverage

leverage: in CancerWEB's On-line Medical Dictionary

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