leverdiagram of the three types of levers, showing fulcrum, direction of effort, and direction of force of the load (or resistance)top: a crowbarcenter: a wheelbarrowbottom: a shovellev·er (l?v??r, l??v?r)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 1. To move or lift with a lever: levered up the manhole cover.2. To move (oneself, for example) in a manner resembling the use of a lever: “[He] levered himself out the window all the way to his waist” (Stephen King).3. To fund at least in part with borrowed money; leverage.[Middle English, from Old French levier, from lever, to raise, from Latin lev?re, from levis, light; see legwh- in Indo-European roots.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.lever (?li?v?) n1. (Mechanical Engineering) a rigid bar pivoted about a fulcrum, used to transfer a force to a load and usually to provide a mechanical advantage2. (Mechanical Engineering) any of a number of mechanical devices employing this principle3. a means of exerting pressure in order to accomplish something; strategic aidvb (Mechanical Engineering) to prise or move (an object) with a lever[C13: from Old French leveour, from lever to raise, from Latin lev?re, from levis light] ?lever-?like adjCollins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014lev?er (?l?v ?r, ?li v?r) n. 1. 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. 2. a means or agency of persuading or of achieving an end. v.t. 3. to move or lift with or as if with a lever. v.i. 4. to use a lever. [1250?1300; Middle English levere, levour for *lever