Library / English Dictionary

LEVER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A rigid bar pivoted about a fulcrum

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("lever" is a kind of...):

bar (a rigid piece of metal or wood; usually used as a fastening or obstruction or weapon)

Meronyms (parts of "lever"):

fulcrum (the pivot about which a lever turns)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lever"):

compound lever (a pair of levers hinged at the fulcrum)

crowbar; pry; pry bar; wrecking bar (a heavy iron lever with one end forged into a wedge)

gun trigger; trigger (lever that activates the firing mechanism of a gun)

hand throttle (a hand-operated lever that controls the throttle valve)

key (a lever (as in a keyboard) that actuates a mechanism when depressed)

cant dog; dog hook; peavey; peavy (a stout lever with a sharp spike; used for handling logs)

foot lever; foot pedal; pedal; treadle (a lever that is operated with the foot)

pinch bar (a lever with a pointed projection that serves as a fulcrum; used to roll heavy wheels)

ripping bar (a steel lever with one end formed into a ripping chisel and the other a gooseneck with a claw for pulling nails)

rocker arm; valve rocker (a lever pivoted at the center; used especially to push a valve down in an internal-combustion engine)

spark lever ((on early automobiles) a lever mounted on the steering column and used to adjust the timing of the ignition)

control stick; joystick; stick (a lever used by a pilot to control the ailerons and elevators of an airplane)

tappet (a lever that is moved in order to tap something else)

tiller (lever used to turn the rudder on a boat)

tire iron; tire tool (hand tool consisting of a lever that is used to force the casing of a pneumatic tire onto a steel wheel)

Derivation:

lever (to move or force, especially in an effort to get something open)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A flat metal tumbler in a lever lock

Synonyms:

lever; lever tumbler

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("lever" is a kind of...):

tumbler (a movable obstruction in a lock that must be adjusted to a given position (as by a key) before the bolt can be thrown)

Holonyms ("lever" is a part of...):

lever lock (a lock whose tumblers are levers that must be raised to a given position so that the bolt can move)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A simple machine that gives a mechanical advantage when given a fulcrum

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("lever" is a kind of...):

machine; simple machine (a device for overcoming resistance at one point by applying force at some other point)

Derivation:

lever (to move or force, especially in an effort to get something open)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

To move or force, especially in an effort to get something open

Example:

Raccoons managed to pry the lid off the garbage pail

Synonyms:

jimmy; lever; prise; prize; pry

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "lever" is one way to...):

open; open up (cause to open or to become open)

"Lever" entails doing...:

loose; loosen (make loose or looser)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

lever (a rigid bar pivoted about a fulcrum)

lever (a simple machine that gives a mechanical advantage when given a fulcrum)

leverage (the mechanical advantage gained by being in a position to use a lever)

Credits

 Context examples: 

I was going out at my door on the morning after that deplorable day of headache, sickness, and repentance, with an odd confusion in my mind relative to the date of my dinner-party, as if a body of Titans had taken an enormous lever and pushed the day before yesterday some months back, when I saw a ticket-porter coming upstairs, with a letter in his hand.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

He and Miss Wilson took the liberty of falling in love with each other—at least Tedo and I thought so; we surprised sundry tender glances and sighs which we interpreted as tokens of 'la belle passion,' and I promise you the public soon had the benefit of our discovery; we employed it as a sort of lever to hoist our dead-weights from the house.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Challenger levered his bulky figure slowly out of his chair.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Levers and purchases fascinated him, and his mind roved backward to hand-spikes and blocks and tackles at sea.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

If the cued side changed color, the monkey should release the lever, but if the non-cued (foil) side changed color, the monkey should ignore it.

(Researchers discover neural code that predicts behavior, National Institutes of Health)

One in a scarlet cap bent over it, steadying the jagged rock which was balanced on the spoon-shaped end of the long wooden lever.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I implored the colonel to let me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my cries.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Still kneeling upon the floor he bent forward and threw all his weight and strength upon some lever, with the result that there came a long, whirling, grinding noise, ending once more in a powerful click.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It took two of them to lever that tree over the edge.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

While both sides of the brain activated in response to color changes, the researchers discovered that if the difference in neuronal activity between the two sides reached a specific threshold (e.g., neurons in the right superior colliculus fired more strongly than the left), the monkey would release the lever.

(Researchers discover neural code that predicts behavior, National Institutes of Health)