lever

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun 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.
• noun A projecting handle used to adjust or operate a mechanism.
• noun A means of accomplishing; a tool.
• transitive verb To move or lift with a lever.
• transitive verb To move (oneself, for example) in a manner resembling the use of a lever.
• transitive verb To fund at least in part with borrowed money; leverage.

from The Century Dictionary.

• To act upon, as raising, lowering, etc., with a lever.
• An obsolete comparative of lief.
• noun A simple machine, consisting of a bar or rigid piece of any shape, acted upon at different points by two forces which severally tend to rotate it in opposite directions about a fixed axis.
• noun In special uses— In surgery, an instrument for applying power, as one of the arms of an obstetrical forceps, used in delivery as a tractor; the vectis.
• noun In dentistry, an instrument used in extracting the stumps of teeth.
• noun In a steam-engine, a bar used to control by hand the movement of the engine in starting or reversing it; a starting-bar.
• noun In firearms, in some forms of breech-loaders, the piece by which the gun is opened or closed, as in the Douglas, Henry, and Maynard rifles. It may be a top, side, or under lever.
• noun One of the chief supporters of the roof-timber of a house, being itself not a prop, but a part of the framework.
• noun The lower movable board of a barn-door.
• noun The first row of a fishing-net.
• noun Generally, a rod or bar.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• adverb obsolete Rather.
• noun (Mech.) 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.
• noun A bar, as a capstan bar, applied to a rotatory piece to turn it.
• noun An arm on a rock shaft, to give motion to the shaft or to obtain motion from it.
• noun a machine consisting of two or more levers acting upon each other.
• noun See Escapement.
• noun See Jack, n., 5.
• noun a watch having a vibrating lever to connect the action of the escape wheel with that of the balance.
• noun 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.
• adjective obsolete More agreeable; more pleasing.
• adjective See Had as lief, under Had.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun rare A levee.
• noun mechanics 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.
• noun A small such piece to trigger or control a mechanical device (like a button)
• noun mechanics A bar, as a capstan bar, applied to a rotatory piece to turn it.
• noun mechanics An arm on a rock shaft, to give motion to the shaft or to obtain motion from it.
• verb transitive To move with a lever.
• verb figuratively (transitive) To use, operate like a lever.
• verb chiefly UK, finance To increase the share of debt in the capitalization of a business.
• adverb obsolete Rather.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• verb to move or force, especially in an effort to get something open
• noun a flat metal tumbler in a lever lock
• noun a simple machine that gives a mechanical advantage when given a fulcrum
• noun a rigid bar pivoted about a fulcrum