LEVERAGE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does leverage mean? 

• LEVERAGE (noun)
  The noun LEVERAGE has 3 senses:

1. the mechanical advantage gained by being in a position to use a lever

2. strategic advantage; power to act effectively

3. investing with borrowed money as a way to amplify potential gains (at the risk of greater losses)

  Familiarity information: LEVERAGE used as a noun is uncommon.

• LEVERAGE (verb)
  The verb LEVERAGE has 2 senses:

1. supplement with leverage

2. provide with leverage

  Familiarity information: LEVERAGE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LEVERAGE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The mechanical advantage gained by being in a position to use a lever

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Synonyms:

leverage; purchase

Hypernyms ("leverage" is a kind of...):

mechanical phenomenon (a physical phenomenon associated with the equilibrium or motion of objects)

Derivation:

lever (to move or force, especially in an effort to get something open)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Strategic advantage; power to act effectively

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Context example:

relatively small groups can sometimes exert immense political leverage

Hypernyms ("leverage" is a kind of...):

advantage; vantage (the quality of having a superior or more favorable position)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "leverage"):

bargaining chip (leverage in the form of an inducement or a concession useful in successful negotiations)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Investing with borrowed money as a way to amplify potential gains (at the risk of greater losses)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

leverage; leveraging

Hypernyms ("leverage" is a kind of...):

investing; investment (the act of investing; laying out money or capital in an enterprise with the expectation of profit)

Derivation:

leverage (provide with leverage)

leverage (supplement with leverage)

• LEVERAGE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they leverage    ... he / she / it leverages   
Past simple: leveraged   
Past participle: leveraged   
-ing form: leveraging   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Supplement with leverage

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Context example:

leverage the money that is already available

Hypernyms (to "leverage" is one way to...):

supplement (add as a supplement to what seems insufficient)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

leverage (investing with borrowed money as a way to amplify potential gains (at the risk of greater losses))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Provide with leverage

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Context example:

We need to leverage this company

Hypernyms (to "leverage" is one way to...):

furnish; provide; render; supply (give something useful or necessary to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

leverage (investing with borrowed money as a way to amplify potential gains (at the risk of greater losses))

 Context examples 

To answer this question, GoMiner leverages the Gene Ontology (GO) to identify the biological processes, functions and components represented in these lists.

(GoMiner, NCI Thesaurus)

A great broken bough upon the grass showed whence he had gained his leverage to tilt over our bridge.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

IL-2 is incorporated into the vaccine to leverage its ability to expand activated T cells.

(Autologous Tumor Cell Proteoliposome Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Vaccine, NCI Thesaurus)

Now researchers at Georgia Tech and their collaborators are investigating the shape with an eye toward leveraging its structural properties, hoping to find ways to harness its bistability to build multifunctional devices or metamaterials.

(Saddle-shaped origami enables new microelectronic applications, National Science Foundation)

It was a body capable of enormous leverage—a cruel body.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)