LEVER

Lever

A lever is a machine consisting of a beam or rigid rod pivoted at a fixed hinge, or fulcrum. It is one of the six simple machines identified by Renaissance scientists. The word comes from the French lever, "to raise", cf. a levant. A lever amplifies an input force to provide a greater output force, which is said to provide leverage. The ratio of the output force to the input force is the ideal mechanical advantage of the lever.

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lever

Noun

  1. 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.
    1. Specifically, 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.
  2. A small such piece to trigger or control a mechanical device (like a button).
  3. A bar, as a capstan bar, applied to a rotatory piece to turn it.
  4. An arm on a rock shaft, to give motion to the shaft or to obtain motion from it.

Noun (etymology 2)

  1. A levee.

Verb

  1. To move with a lever.
    ''With great effort and a big crowbar I managed to lever the beam off the floor.
  2. To use, operate like a lever.
  3. To increase the share of debt in the capitalization of a business.

Adverb

  1. Rather.


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: lever
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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