English
leverage
Etymology

From lever + -age.

Pronunciation
  • IPA: /ˈlɛv(ə)ɹɪd͡ʒ/, /ˈliːv(ə)ɹɪd͡ʒ/
Noun

leverage (uncountable)

  1. A force compounded by means of a lever rotating around a pivot; see torque.
    Synonyms: mechanical advantage
    A crowbar uses leverage to pry nails out of wood.
  2. (by extension) Any influence which is compounded or used to gain an advantage.
    Try using competitors’ prices for leverage in the negotiation.
  3. (finance) The use of borrowed funds with a contractually determined return to increase the ability to invest and earn an expected higher return, but usually at high risk.
    Leverage is great until something goes wrong with your investments and you still have to pay your debts.
  4. (finance) The debt-to-equity ratio.
    Synonyms: gearing
  5. (business) The ability to earn very high returns when operating at high-capacity utilization of a facility.
    Synonyms: operating leverage
    Their variable-cost-reducing investments have dramatically increased their leverage.
Translations Translations Translations
  • French: effet de levier
  • German: Fremdfinanzierungsgrad, Fremdkapitalaufnahme, Verschuldungsgrad, Hebelwirkung
  • Portuguese: alavancagem
  • Spanish: apalancamiento
Translations Verb

leverage (leverages, present participle leveraging; simple past and past participle leveraged)

  1. (transitive, chiefly, US, slang, business) To use; to exploit; to manipulate in order to take full advantage (of something).
    They plan to leverage the publicity into a good distribution agreement.
    They plan to leverage off the publicity to get a good distribution agreement.
Synonyms Translations

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