The word “lever” has played a remarkably versatile role in literature, functioning as both a literal mechanical tool and a potent metaphor for influence or change. In narratives like those of H. G. Wells, the lever is a concrete device—a starting lever [1], a mechanism under the time machine’s control [2, 3, 4, 5, 6]—that directly drives the plot, while in political treatises by Rousseau it is invoked as a symbol of power and strategic leverage in society [7, 8, 9, 10]. At the same time, humorous and playful usage appears in works such as James Joyce’s portrayals of Johnny Lever [11, 12, 13], and the term even finds itself enmeshed in the fabric of proverbs and common sayings from multilingual sources [14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20]. This multiplicity of senses—from the physical act of lifting, as seen in contraptions described by Dumas [21, 22] or adaptations in technological experiments [23, 24], to its figurative application in sparking revolution or change—demonstrates the word’s enduring appeal and adaptability across literary genres.