level

Less common meanings

7. 7
   make flatverbtransitive

   To adjust something so that it is as flat, or as squarely upright, as possible.

   Use the adjustable feet to level the washing machine.

   The crew leveled the site before pouring the foundation.

   UsageUsually leveled, leveling in American English and levelled, levelling in British English.

   Similarflatten, even, grade, smooth

8. 8
   bubble toolnouncountable

   A tool used to check whether a surface is horizontal, or to mark a true horizontal or vertical reference line.

   He set a level on the countertop and adjusted the cabinet legs until the bubble centered.

   A laser level projected a straight line across the wall for the tile installation.

   Note

   Builders reach for one whenever something must be set true. A spirit level reads a bubble in a curved vial, and a laser level throws a reference line across a wall. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • Builders use levels to establish accurate alignment. bosch-professional.com
   • A spirit level indicates alignment using a bubble in a vial with internal curvature. patents.google.com
   • A laser level can project a reference line across a wall. bosch-professional.com
9. 9
   character ranknouncountable

   A numeric value assigned to a game character or element, representing its power, challenge, or what it is eligible to do, and used to govern progression through the game.

   Her rogue reached level twenty after the long dungeon run.

   Enemies in that zone scale with the player's level.

   UsageUse a cardinal number after level (reached level twenty) or an ordinal before it (reached fifth level).

   Similarrank

10. 10
    move up (games)verbintransitive

    To progress to the next level, as a character or player does in a game.

    Her character leveled quickly thanks to the weekend experience boost.

    New players level fast in the starting zones.

    UsageUsually level up: I leveled up after the boss fight.

    Similaradvance, progress

11. 11
    at equal heightadjective

    At the same height as some point of reference; often used in the phrase level with.

    The new deck sits level with the kitchen floor.

    Her eyes were level with his shoulder when they stood side by side.

    UsageUsually level with something: level with the floor. Also on a level with.

    Similareven, flush, aligned

    Note

    Margery Allingham, in her novel The China Governess, places window bases "on a level with the pavement outside."

12. 12
    same positionadjective

    Equal in position or rank with someone or something else.

    Both runners were level as they entered the final lap.

    The two companies are now level in market share after a decade of rivalry.

    UsageTakes with: level with a rival. Teams can be level on points.

    Similareven, equal, tied, abreast, square

    Note

    Rank borrows the language of height here. Sports reporting uses it for teams tied in a table: a 2011 BBC Sport report has a side "level with Aston Villa on 11 points." Shakespeare already has it in Antony and Cleopatra: "Young boys and girls / Are level now with men." Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • The BBC Sport report dates from 2011. bbc.com
    • The report uses the quoted comparison for West Bromwich Albion. bbc.com
    • Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra contains the quoted words, spoken by Cleopatra. gutenberg.org
13. 13
    tie the gameverbintransitive

    To make the score of a game equal; to draw even with the opposing side.

    The visitors leveled in the final minute with a long-range shot.

    We can still level if we score on this possession.

    UsageWith an object, say level the score. Equalize means the same.

    Similarequalize

    Note

    A sports verb that needs no object: the side that scores the equalizer simply levels. A 2012 BBC Sport report puts it this way: "Spurs immediately levelled." Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • A BBC Sport report published in 2012 contains the quoted words. en.wiktionary.org
    • The report contains the exact wording “Spurs immediately levelled.” en.wiktionary.org
14. 14
    destroyverbtransitive

    To destroy a building or area completely by reducing it to the ground; to raze.

    The earthquake leveled entire neighborhoods in seconds.

    The city plans to level the abandoned mill and build a park in its place.

    UsageOften passive: neighborhoods leveled by an earthquake. Also level something to the ground.

    Similarraze, demolish, flatten, destroy, bulldoze

    Oppositebuild, construct, erect, raise

15. 15
    aimverbtransitive

    To aim or direct something, such as a weapon, look, criticism, accusation, or penalty, at a person or target.

    He leveled the rifle at the target and waited for the signal.

    Critics level the same charge at every sequel the studio releases.

    UsagePattern: level something at a target: level a charge at someone, level a gun at them.

    Similaraim, point, direct, train

    Note

    The picture is of a weapon brought to the horizontal and pointed. John Stow's The Annales of England (1592) has a defender who "levelled a quarrel out of a crossbow." It extends easily from guns to stares and words, so one can level an accusation of fraud at the directors just as a hunter levels a gun. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • John Stow wrote The Annales of England, first published in 1592. durobrivis.net
    • The work describes a defender using the quoted words. en.wiktionary.org
16. 16
    be honestverbintransitive

    To speak honestly and openly with someone, usually in the phrase level with.

    The coach finally leveled with the team about their playoff chances.

    I'll level with you: the budget won't cover both projects.

    UsageMostly level with someone, often I'll level with you before unwelcome news.

17. 17
    make equalverbfigurativelytransitive

    To bring people or things to a common standing in rank, condition, character, or privilege.

    Mandatory uniforms were meant to level the visible differences between wealthy and poor students.

    Death levels all ranks and fortunes.

    UsageCommon in level the playing field: make things fair for everyone.

    Similarequalize, even, flatten

    Oppositedifferentiate, stratify

    Note

    Death is the classic subject of this verb, because it levels all ranks and fortunes. The figurative sense applies the "raze to the ground" meaning to society, so distinctions are flattened rather than buildings. It gave the seventeenth-century Levellers their name and gave death its proverbial title of the great leveler. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • The seventeenth-century Levellers' name referred to alleged social levelling. en.wikipedia.org
    • Death has the proverbial title of the great leveler, referring to its equalizing effect. en.wiktionary.org
18. 18
    composedadjective

    Calm, steady, and balanced in manner, temper, or judgment.

    Even as the crisis deepened, the manager stayed level and weighed each option with care.

    Despite the chaos around him, his gaze stayed level.

    UsageCommon in keep a level head and level-headed.

    Similarcalm, steady, composed, cool, collected

    Oppositeagitated, excitable, flustered

19. 19
    straightforwardadjective

    Straightforward and direct; plain and clear in manner or expression.

    a very plain and level account

    1873, Matthew Arnold, Literature and Dogma

    Similarstraightforward, direct, plain, frank, candid

    Oppositeevasive, indirect, devious

20. 20
    adjust to suitverbtransitive

    To adjust or adapt something so that it matches a particular level or standard.

    Editors level the articles to suit readers at different stages of fluency.

    The engineer leveled the audio tracks so no song played louder than the rest.

    Similaradjust, adapt, normalize, balance, standardize

    Note

    Here the verb means fitting something to a standard, and it takes to: you level remarks to the capacity of children, pitching them at what the listener can manage. Edmund Spenser, in Mother Hubberds Tale (1591), writes of one whose mind is fixed on honor and who levels all his purposes to it. That use leans toward the "aim" meaning, because adjusting a thing to a mark and directing it there were close ideas. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • Edmund Spenser wrote Mother Hubberds Tale, first published in 1591. celm.folger.edu
    • The poem describes someone whose mind is fixed on honour and who directs all his purposes toward it. darkwing.uoregon.edu
21. 21
    even voiceadjective

    Of a sound or voice: steady and unvarying in pitch or volume.

    Over the noise of the crowd, the announcer kept his voice level and even.

    In some languages a level tone on a syllable changes the word's meaning.

    UsageOften a level voice or a level tone.

    Similareven, steady, flat

    Oppositeunsteady, shaky, wavering

    Note

    Phoneticians use the term when they sort pitch movement into kinds. Henry Sweet sets out the scheme: intonation "is either level, rising, or falling." A level tone holds essentially one pitch across the syllable. The other two are contours that move, and level is the name for the absence of that movement. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • Henry Sweet wrote A History of English Sounds. archive.org
    • A History of English Sounds was first published in 1874. archive.org
    • The quoted wording is verified in Sweet's A Short Historical English Grammar (1892), section 53, page 16. upload.wikimedia.org
    • A level tone maintains approximately the same pitch, whereas rising and falling tones involve pitch movement. en.wikipedia.org
22. 22
    noun

    One of the specific values that a categorical variable may take.
23. 23
    noun

    The distance of a node from the root of a tree structure, counted in steps along the branches.
24. 24
    noundialectal

    An expanse of almost perfectly flat land, such as a drained marsh or plain.

    The troops grow mutinous—the revenue fails— There’s something rotten in us—for the level Of the State slopes, its very bases topple, The boldest turn their backs upon themselves!

    1820, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Oedipus Tyrannus