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PlainSpell

lever

le·ver/ˈlɛv.ɚ/noun, verb

lever is spelled L-E-V-E-R: 5 letters and 2 syllables (le·ver). It appears 4.4 times per million words in written English, the 12,216th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “leaver vs lever” about 50 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, lever means “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; –…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of lever is levers.

How many letters and syllables are in lever?

Letters5: L-E-V-E-R
Syllables2: le·ver
In writing4.4 times per million words; the 12,216th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is lever?

Lever appears 4.4 times per million words in written English, the 12,216th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce lever?

  • UK /ˈliː.və/
  • US /ˈlɛv.ɚ/
  • US /ˈli.vɚ/

Lever has 2 syllables, split le·ver in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-lever.ogg, II_US_lever.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with lever

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

leaver vs lever50 G

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with lever?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as lever from its last stressed vowel (/ɛvəɹ/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: revel, elver.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of lever

  • levers plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • levering participle, present
  • levered participle, past
  • liever

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does lever mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 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 motion.

  2. 2

    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

  3. 3

    A small such piece to trigger or control a mechanical device (like a switch or a button).

  4. 4

    A bar, as a capstan bar, applied to a rotatory piece to turn it.

  5. 5

    An arm on a rock shaft, to give motion to the shaft or to obtain motion from it.

  6. 6

    obsoleteA crowbar.

  7. 7

    rareA levee.

verb

  1. 1

    To move with a lever.

    With great effort and a big crowbar I managed to lever the beam off the floor.

  2. 2

    To use, operate or move (something) like a lever (physically).

  3. 3

    To use (something) like a lever (in an abstract sense).

  4. 4

    UKTo increase the share of debt in the capitalization of a business.

adverb

  1. 1

    obsoleteRather.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Lever in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchlevier (rigid piece), manette (small such piece to trigger or control a…)
GermanHebel (rigid piece), hebeln (to move with a lever)
Portuguesealavanca (rigid piece), alavancar (to move with a lever)
Spanishpalanca (rigid piece), maneta (small such piece to trigger or control a…), apalancar, palanquear (to move with a lever), centrarse en (to use like a lever), ampliar capital (finance: to increase the share of debt)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does lever come from?

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.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after lever