Leaver or lever?
leaver is a noun meaning “One who leaves”; lever is a noun meaning “A rigid piece which is capable of turning about one point, or axis (fulcrum)…”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) lever is about 16 times as common as leaver.
What is the difference between leaver and lever?
| leaver | lever | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | noun, verb, adverb |
| Meaning | One who leaves AustraliaSynonym of schoolie (“a senior student”) UKSomeone who supports Brexit, the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union | A 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… 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… To move with a lever |
| Example | This year's school leavers have excellent grades | With great effort and a big crowbar I managed to lever the beam off the floor |
| Forms | leavers | levers |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | /ˈliː.və/ /ˈlɛv.ɚ/ /ˈli.vɚ/ |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words | 4.4 times per million words |
Sources: leaver and lever in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of leaver and lever
leaver
- 1
One who leaves
This year's school leavers have excellent grades
- 2
UKSomeone who supports Brexit, the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union
- 3
UKAlternative letter-case form of Leaver
- 4
AustraliaSynonym of schoolie (“a senior student”)
lever
- 1
A 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…
- 2
To move with a lever
With great effort and a big crowbar I managed to lever the beam off the floor
- 3
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…
- 4
To use, operate or move (something) like a lever (physically)
- 5
A small such piece to trigger or control a mechanical device (like a switch or a button)
- 6
To use (something) like a lever (in an abstract sense)
- 7
A bar, as a capstan bar, applied to a rotatory piece to turn it
- 8
UKTo increase the share of debt in the capitalization of a business
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, leaver or lever?
leaver appears about once in every 4 million words; lever 4.4 times per million words.
leaver about once in every 4 million wordslever 4.4 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search leaver vs lever?
“leaver vs lever” is searched about 50 times a month on Google and 20 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“lever vs leaver”, “leaver or lever”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.