How do you use the word "lever" in a sentence?

Q: How do you use the word "lever" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "lever": Press down on the lever. The screw, the lever, the wedge, the pulley, etc. are called simple machines.

Lever Meaning

/ˈliː.və/

Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

nounA rigid piece which is capable of turning about one point, or axis (fulcrum), and in which are two or more other points where forces are applied; — used for transmitting and modifying force and motion., 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.

Sentence Examples

Press down on the lever.

The screw, the lever, the wedge, the pulley, etc. are called simple machines.

They lifted the rock by means of a lever.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms:

prize pry

Antonyms:

None

CEFR Practice Quiz

He used a long metal ____ to lift the heavy rock out of the ground.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

He pulled the metal ____ to release the heavy catch, and the large wooden door swung open slowly tonight.

Word Origin & History

From Middle English lever, levore, levour, from Old French leveor, leveur (“a lifter, lever (also Old French and French levier)”), from Latin levātor (“a lifter”), from levō (“to raise”). Doublet of levator.

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"Retractable steps and handrails are provided on each side of the cars. The steps, which are under the control of the guard, are operated by hand levers in the entrance vestibule." — 1952 September, “Modernised Pull-and-Push Trains”, in Railway Magazine, page 617:

"A doorknob of whatever roundish shape is effectively a continuum of levers, with the axis of the latching mechanism—known as the spindle—being the fulcrum about which the turning takes place." — 2012 March 26, Henry Petroski, “Opening Doors”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, pages 112–3:

"My lord, I brained him with a lever my neighbour lent me, and he stood by and cried, ‘Strike home, old boy!’" — 1613, John Marston, William Barksted, The Insatiate Countess, IV.1:

"Someone found a pick and levered a burst plank out of the floor, and in a few minutes we had got a fire alight and our drenched clothes were steaming." — 1938 April, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter VII, in Homage to Catalonia, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC:

"Sullen now, with stultified spleen, Mrs Dibble grappled her crutches and levered herself upright after an ungainly struggle." — 1950, Norman Lindsay, Dust or Polish?, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 150:

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