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lever

 - 4 dictionary results
Lever
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lev⋅er

  [lev-er, lee-ver]
Use lever in a Sentence
–noun
1. 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. Compare machine (def. 4b).
2. 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.
3. Horology. the pallet of an escapement.
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
4. to move with or apply a lever: to lever a rock; to lever mightily and to no avail.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME levere, levour for *lever < AF; OF levier, equiv. to lev(er) to lift (< L levāre to lighten, lift, v. deriv. of levis light) + -ier -ier 2
Lever
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Le⋅ver

  [lee-ver]
–noun
Charles James (“Cornelius O'Dowd”), 1806–72, Irish novelist and essayist.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To lever
lev·er   (lěv'ər, lē'vər)   


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n.  

  1. A simple machine consisting of a rigid bar pivoted on a fixed point and used to transmit force, as in raising or moving a weight at one end by pushing down on the other.

  2. A projecting handle used to adjust or operate a mechanism.

  3. A means of accomplishing; a tool: used friendship as a lever to obtain advancement.

tr.v.   lev·ered, lev·er·ing, lev·ers
To move or lift with or as if with a lever.

[Middle English, from Old French levier, from lever, to raise, from Latin levāre, from levis, light; see legwh- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

lever 
1297, from O.Fr. levier "a lifter, a lever," agent noun from lever "to raise," from L. levare "to raise," from levis "light" in weight, from PIE base *le(n)gwh- "light, easy, agile, nimble" (cf. Skt. laghuh "quick, small;" Gk. elakhys "small," elaphros "light;" O.C.S. liguku, Lith. lengvas "light;" O.Ir. laigiu "smaller, worse;" Goth. leihts, O.E. leoht "light" (adj.)). Leverage "action of a lever" is first recorded 1724; figurative sense is from 1858; financial speculation sense is from 1937.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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