pull a lever

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

To take action that sets a process in motion

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Thực hiện hành động khởi đầu một quá trình

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: to operate a machine part
Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

She pulled a lever to start the election process

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “pull a lever” mean?

To take action that sets a process in motion Literally: to operate a machine part

Is “pull a lever” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.