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leva

lever; military draft

noun LEH-vah Rare

Origin: Latin levare (to raise)

Also means

recruitment

Usage Note

Leva has two main uses: the mechanical leva del cambio (gear lever) and the historical military conscription — la leva obbligatoria was Italy's mandatory military service, suspended in 2004. In figurative speech, fare leva su qualcosa means 'to leverage something'.

Examples

"La leva del cambio è rotta."

Natural Translation

The gear lever is broken.

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