lever

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle)
• HYPHEN: lev=er

CIDE DICTIONARY

lever, a. [Old compar. of leve or lief.].

 More agreeable; more pleasing.  Chaucer.  [1913 Webster]

To be lever than. See Had as lief, under Had.

lever, adv. 

 Rather.  Chaucer.  [1913 Webster]
"For lever had I die than see his deadly face."  [1913 Webster]

lever, n. [OE. levour, OF. leveor, prop., a lifter, fr. F. lever to raise, L. levare; akin to levis light in weight, E. levity, and perh. to E. light not heavy: cf. F. levier. Cf. Alleviate, Elevate, Leaven, Legerdemain, Levee, Levy, n.].

•  A rigid piece which is capable of turning about one point, or axis (the fulcrum), and in which are two or more other points where forces are applied; -- used for transmitting and modifying force and motion. Specif., a bar of metal, wood, or other rigid substance, used to exert a pressure, or sustain a weight, at one point of its length, by receiving a force or power at a second, and turning at a third on a fixed point called a fulcrum. It is usually named as the first of the six mechanical powers, and is of three kinds, according as either the fulcrum F, the weight W, or the power P, respectively, is situated between the other two, as in the figures.  [1913 Webster]
•  A bar, as a capstan bar, applied to a rotatory piece to turn it.  [1913 Webster]

Compound lever, a machine consisting of two or more levers acting upon each other. -- Lever escapement. See Escapement. -- Lever jack. See Jack, n., 5. -- Lever watch, a watch having a vibrating lever to connect the action of the escape wheel with that of the balance. -- Universal lever, a machine formed by a combination of a lever with the wheel and axle, in such a manner as to convert the reciprocating motion of the lever into a continued rectilinear motion of some body to which the power is applied.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

lever, n. & v.
--n.
1 a bar resting on a pivot, used to help lift a heavy or firmly fixed object.
2 Mech. a simple machine consisting of a rigid bar pivoted about a fulcrum (fixed point) which can be acted upon by a force (effort) in order to move a load.
3 a projecting handle moved to operate a mechanism.
4 a means of exerting moral pressure.
--v.
1 intr. use a lever.
2 tr. (often foll. by away, out, up, etc.) lift, move, or act on with a lever.

Idiom

lever escapement a mechanism connecting the escape wheel and the balance wheel using two levers. lever watch a watch with a lever escapement.

Etymology

ME f. OF levier, leveor f. lever raise: see LEVY

THESAURUS

lever

Charlie McCarthy, agent, ancilla, appliance, bar, beam, boom, cant hook, claw bar, contrivance, crab, crane, crank, creature, crow, crowbar, derrick, device, dummy, dupe, erector, forklift, gantry crane, get a foothold, get leverage, go-between, handmaid, handmaiden, handspike, hoist, hydraulic tailgate, implement, instrument, interagent, intermediary, intermediate, intermedium, iron crow, jack, jackscrew, jimmy, lift, lifter, limb, marlinespike, mechanism, mediator, medium, midwife, minion, organ, outrigger, pawn, peavey, pedal, pinch bar, plaything, prize, pry, puppet, ripping bar, servant, slave, spar, stooge, tackle, tool, toy, treadle, vehicle, wedge, windlass, wrecking bar

ROGET THESAURUS

lever

Instrument

N instrument, machinery, mechanism, engineering, instrument, organ, tool, implement, utensil, machine, engine, lathe, gin, mill, air engine, caloric engine, heat engine, gear, tackle, tackling, rig, rigging, apparatus, appliances, plant, materiel, harness, trappings, fittings, accouterments, barde, equipment, equipmentage, appointments, furniture, upholstery, chattels, paraphernalia, mechanical powers, lever, leverage, mechanical advantage, crow, crowbar, handspike, gavelock, jemmy, jimmy, arm, limb, wing, oar, paddle, pulley, wheel and axle, wheelwork, clockwork, wheels within wheels, pinion, crank, winch, cam, pedal, capstan, wheel, inclined plane, wedge, screw, spring, mainspring, can hook, glut, heald, heddle, jenny, parbuckle, sprag, water wheel, handle, hilt, haft, shaft, heft, shank, blade, trigger, tiller, helm, treadle, key, turnscrew, screwdriver, knocker, hammer, edge tool, borer, vice, teeth, nail, rope, peg, support, spoon, arms, oar, cardiograph, recapper, snowplow, tenpenny, votograph, instrumental, mechanical, machinal, brachial.

Cause

N cause, origin, source, principle, element, occasioner, prime mover, primum mobile, vera causa, author, mainspring, agent, leaven, groundwork, foundation, spring, fountain, well, font, fountainhead, spring head, wellhead, fons et origo, genesis, descent, remote cause, influence, pivot, hinge, turning point, lever, crux, fulcrum, key, proximate cause, causa causans, straw that breaks the camel's back, ground, reason, reason why, why and wherefore, rationale, occasion, derivation, final cause, les dessous des cartes, undercurrents, rudiment, egg, germ, embryo, bud, root, radix radical, etymon, nucleus, seed, stem, stock, stirps, trunk, tap-root, gemmule, radicle, semen, sperm, nest, cradle, nursery, womb, nidus, birthplace, hotbed, causality, causation, origination, production, caused, causal, original, primary, primitive, primordial, aboriginal, protogenal, radical, embryonic, embryotic, in embryo, in ovo, seminal, germinal, at the bottom of, connate, having a common origin, because, behind the scenes, causa latet vis est notissima, felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas.

Elevation

N elevation, raising, erection, lift, sublevation, upheaval, sublimation, exaltation, prominence, lever, crane, derrick, windlass, capstan, winch, dredge, dredger, dredging machine, dumbwaiter, elevator, escalator, lift, elevated, stilted, attollent, rampant, on stilts, on the shoulders of, on one's legs, on one's hind legs.