n.
- 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.
- A projecting handle used to adjust or operate a mechanism.
- A means of accomplishing; a tool: used friendship as a lever to obtain advancement.
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.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
