Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
LEVERAGE
leverage, leveraging
(noun) investing with borrowed money as a way to amplify potential gains (at the risk of greater losses)
leverage
(noun) strategic advantage; power to act effectively; “relatively small groups can sometimes exert immense political leverage”
leverage, purchase
(noun) the mechanical advantage gained by being in a position to use a lever
leverage
(verb) provide with leverage; “We need to leverage this company”
leverage
(verb) supplement with leverage; “leverage the money that is already available”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
leverage (usually uncountable, plural leverages)
A force compounded by means of a lever rotating around a pivot; see torque.
By extension, any influence which is compounded or used to gain an advantage.
(finance) The use of borrowed funds with a contractually determined return to increase the ability of a business to invest and earn an expected higher return, but usually at high risk.
(business) The ability to earn very high returns when operating at high capacity utilization of a facility.
Synonyms
• (force compounded by a lever): mechanical advantage
• (use of borrowed fund): financial leverage
• (ability to earn high returns from high capacity utilization): operating leverage
Verb
leverage (third-person singular simple present leverages, present participle leveraging, simple past and past participle leveraged)
(transitive, chiefly, US, slang, business) To use; to exploit; to manipulate in order to take full advantage (of something).
Synonyms
• (take full advantage of): exploit, use
Source: Wiktionary
Lev"er*age, n.
Definition: The action of a lever; mechanical advantage gained by the lever. Leverage of a couple (Mech.), the perpendicular distance between the lines of action of two forces which act in parallel and opposite directions.
– Leverage of a force, the perpendicular distance from the line in which a force acts upon a body to a point about which the body may be supposed to turn.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
27 June 2025
SQUARE
(adjective) having four equal sides and four right angles or forming a right angle; “a square peg in a round hole”; “a square corner”
Coffee Trivia
