as in to pry
to raise, move, or pull apart with or as if with a lever
the workers used crowbars to lever the heavy stone block into its new position
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Examples of lever in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Joe Parkinson, WSJ, 2 Mar. 2021
And the second is levered door handles.
—Dirk Sutro, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Feb. 2023
Daniel Silverman, Foreign Affairs, 28 Aug. 2024
Construction of the new building would not tap into existing funding levers, according to the team.
—Jason Clinkscales, Sportico.com, 7 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for lever 
Verb
Boko Haram, the jihadist group that kidnapped 276 schoolgirls in 2014, igniting the global #BringBackOurGirls campaign, released a video claiming credit for the Katsina kidnapping, which officials later said was an attempt to lever influence over negotiations.
—Joe Parkinson, WSJ, 2 Mar. 2021
And the second is levered door handles.
—Dirk Sutro, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Feb. 2023
Noun
As for steps a new administration could take, historically, U.S. presidents seeking to change Israeli behavior have pulled several levers.
—Daniel Silverman, Foreign Affairs, 28 Aug. 2024
Construction of the new building would not tap into existing funding levers, according to the team.
—Jason Clinkscales, Sportico.com, 7 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for lever
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lever.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Thesaurus Entries Near lever
Cite this Entry
“Lever.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lever. Accessed 20 Sep. 2024.
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