leverages

Noun

leverage (usually uncountable, plural leverages)

1. (usually) A force compounded by means of a lever rotating around a pivot.
   • A crowbar uses leverage to pry nails out of wood.

   Synonyms:

   mechanical advantage

2. (broadly, usually) Any influence which is compounded or used to gain an advantage.
   • Try using competitors’ prices for leverage in the negotiation.
3. (usually) 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. (usually) The debt-to-equity ratio.
   • In such cases where there is a multiple capital structure the factor known as leverage comes into play.1933 June 4, “Trusts Heartened by Security Rally”, in New York Times

   Synonyms:

   gearing

5. (usually) The ability to earn very high returns when operating at high-capacity utilization of a facility.
   • Their variable-cost-reducing investments have dramatically increased their leverage.

   Synonyms:

   operating leverage

6. (usually, regression analytics) The distance of between an independent observation and other observations.

See all 7 meanings of leverage