Leverage

Investing, or speculating, with borrowed money or by putting down only a small part of the purchase price. For example, a company may buy another using a small amount of its own cash, and a larger amount of debt in the form of bank loans or bonds; the greater the proportion of debt, the higher the leverage, or gearing. See leveraged buyout. Another use of leverage is to buy shares on margin; if the investor puts up just 10% of the cost, and the share price rises by 10%, they have doubled their money. But if the share price falls by 10%, their investment is wiped out. Perhaps the commonest instance of leverage is associated with buying houses: most people pay a small proportion of the price at first and borrow the balance. Financial crises often have excessive leverage at their heart.

拓展学习：小词详解 | leverage