lever
/ˈliː.və/
"lever" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“lever” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #12,271. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #12,271
- frequency rank, English
- 2,297
- “L” headwords
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - 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 mot...
Corpus desk
Index EN-lever · lever · English
lever · rank #12,271 · 7 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #12,271
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 7 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,297
- PHOTO-FINISH Lisbon
Nearest frequency peer: Lisbon (+1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “lever”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- Lagos
Lagos
87,734 corpus weight
- LAN
LAN
87,733 corpus weight
- lender
lender
87,732 corpus weight
- lever
lever
87,730 corpus weight
- Lisbon
Lisbon
87,729 corpus weight
- lu
lu
87,728 corpus weight
What this shows “lever” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | lever |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈliː.və/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #12,271 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “lever”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 7 spelling variants around lever (IPA /ˈliː.və/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #12,271 among 2,297 “L” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for lever, with forms such as "elver", "leevr", and "leverr". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "love", "live", "levy", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: 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. The correct English form is lever, spelled L-E-V-E-R.
Definition
- 1A 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.
- 2A 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.
- 3A small such piece to trigger or control a mechanical device (like a switch or a button).
- 4A bar, as a capstan bar, applied to a rotatory piece to turn it.
- 5An arm on a rock shaft, to give motion to the shaft or to obtain motion from it.
- 6A crowbar.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how lever appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
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.
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.
Etymology
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.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- elver
- leevr
- leverr
- levre
- levver
- llever
- lveer
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of lever - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "lever", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).