Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - lever

 I. noun  Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French levier, ~, from ~ to raise, from Latin levare, from levis light in weight — more at light  Date: 14th century  1.  a. a bar used for prying or dislodging something  b. an inducing or compelling force ; tool use food as a political ~ — Time  2.  a. a rigid piece that transmits and modifies force or motion when forces are applied at two points and it turns about a third; specifically a rigid bar used to exert a pressure or sustain a weight at one point of its length by the application of a force at a second and turning at a third on a fulcrum  b. a projecting piece by which a mechanism is operated or adjusted  II. transitive verb  (~ed; ~ing)  Date: 1876  1. to pry, raise, or move with or as if with a ~  2. to operate (a device) in the manner of a ~ LEVER  biographical name Charles James 1806-1872 British novelist