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🛠️ A lifting bar 🔑 A lock part 🛠️ To force open 💰 To use borrowed funds
to lever

to lever

3 4.9
To move something by using a long bar to lift it
  • verb
  • /ˈlɛvər/
translation icon : hacer palanca
  • Annoyed, he bent, worked his shovel under the rock, levered it up, and hauled it out.
  • lever open
  • lever yourself upright
  • lever with a pry bar

Oh, it seems to kind of slide on rather than being able to lever it away.

Examples

  • Slowly, he levered himself up to her level, guiding himself by touch more than sight.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • Then we lever it again from there with a higher fulcrum and add more rocks.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • We can lever it up and then shove rocks under it with our feet to hold it.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • The thing is you would need to find some sort of fixed point that you could use to lever it and then you could do that.

  • With all her strength, she levered the tip at the edge of the can.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • I noted how smoothly she levered herself down using a single leg, how controlled and easy the motion was.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • "Want me to carry you in?" She shook her head as she levered herself up to a sitting position.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • She used a crowbar to lever the lid off the old chest.

  • With a quick movement, he levered the rock aside to clear the path.

  • He had to lever the drawer open to retrieve the stuck item inside.

Synonyms

to force
vsto lever
376 1.9

To push something so it moves or opens

involves using a bar or similar tool instead of only physical strength
to yank
vsto lever
196 4.1

To pull something suddenly and hard

achieves movement by applying a bar or tool to lift or open
to pry
vsto lever
76 4.4

Use force with a tool to open or move something that is stuck

moves stuck objects by applying a bar or similar tool
to muscle
vsto lever
  • Informal
39 6.6

To push into a place using physical strength or influence

uses a bar or similar tool rather than strength or influence
to wrench
vsto lever
33 4.2

To twist or pull something hard to remove it

uses a bar or similar tool to move things rather than violent twisting
to jimmy
vsto lever
8 8.6

To force open a door or window with a small metal bar

uses a bar or similar tool to move objects rather than hands
to prize
vsto lever
7 9.1

To force something open with a tool like a crowbar

moves objects by using a bar or similar tool
to prise
vsto lever
  • UK
1 7.7

Use a tool or force to open something that is stuck

moves objects by using a bar or similar tool
to yank the door open
vsto lever
  • Informal
1 4.6

Pull a door quickly and hard to open it

uses a bar or similar tool to lift or open items

Phrasal Verbs

to pull the lever
11 3.6

Move a handle to make a machine start or stop

Compounds

gear lever
  • UK
1 3.6

A handle in a car you move to change gears

compound lever
  • Specialized
6.7

A system of two or more levers joined so force on one is passed and increased by the others

foot lever
4.2

A device you move with your foot to control a machine

lever hang
  • Specialized
9.3

A position on gym rings where the body is held straight and horizontal

lever lock
  • Specialized
6.7

A device that keeps a door or safe closed until someone lifts the levers to the right heights

lever scale
7.4

A small portable balance with a bar that turns on a point to weigh things

lever tumbler
  • Specialized
9.1

A flat metal piece inside a lever lock that a key lifts to open the lock

spark lever
  • Archaic
9.9

A small handle near the steering wheel for changing the engine timing

How Forceful

to heave
35 3.9
to pry
76 4.4
to lever
3 4.9
push
138 1.0
to tap
174 1.0

Surface Forms

lever infinitive
levered past
levered past participle
levering present participle
levers third person singular

Etymology

Lever as a verb comes from the same root levare, 'to raise', so to 'lever' something is to lift or move it by using a bar or tool to give you extra force.