# elevator

Pronunciation: US say "EL-uh-vay-tur" /ˈɛləˌveɪtəɹ/; UK say "EL-uh-vay-tuh" /ˈɛləˌveɪtə/

## Noun

1. A permanent installation with a powered cab or platform that moves people and goods between the floors of a building. *(Australia, Canada, Philippines, US)*
   - Simple: A machine that carries people or goods up and down between the floors of a building.
   - _The hotel's elevator carried guests smoothly to the upper floors._
   - _During the fire drill, no one was allowed to use the elevators._
2. A movable control surface on an aircraft that governs its pitching motion, tilting the nose up or down.
   - Simple: A flat moving part at the back of an aircraft that controls whether its nose points up or down.
   - _The elevator on the tail rose to lift the aircraft's nose during takeoff._
   - _Pilots trim the elevators to hold level flight at cruising altitude._
3. A tall silo for storing wheat, corn, or other grain.
   - Simple: A tall building used to store grain such as wheat or corn.
   - _The cooperative built a new elevator beside the train tracks to handle the harvest._
   - _Several elevators dominate the prairie skyline, each packed with wheat._
4. A shoe fitted with an internal lift designed to make the wearer appear taller.
   - Simple: A shoe with a hidden lift inside that makes the person wearing it look taller.
   - _The short leading man relied on an elevator to stand eye-to-eye with the heroine._
   - _Sales of elevators rose among men hoping to add a discreet inch or two._
5. Any muscle whose function is to raise a part of the body, such as the leg or the eye.
   - Simple: A muscle that lifts a part of the body, such as the eyelid or a leg.
   - _The surgeon identified the elevator responsible for raising the eyelid._
   - _Several elevators work together to lift the shoulder blade._
6. A dental instrument used to pry up teeth during difficult extractions, or to lift depressed pieces of bone.
   - Simple: A dental tool used to loosen and lift teeth that are hard to pull out.
   - _Before reaching for the forceps, the surgeon worked the elevator around the tooth's root._
   - _A set of fine elevators sat ready on the tray for the complicated extraction._
7. Anything that raises or uplifts, whether physically or in spirit.
   - Simple: Anything that lifts something up, or that raises a person's mood.
   - _The coach's halftime speech became an elevator for a discouraged squad._
   - _For many listeners, that song is an elevator out of gloom._

## Verb

8. To move between the floors of a building by riding in an elevator. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To travel between floors by riding in an elevator.
   - _Rather than climb six flights, they chose to elevator straight to the top._
   - _She elevatored up while her friends took the escalator._

## Origin

Formed from "elevate" combined with the suffix "-or".

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/elevator (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).