Lift vs. Elevator: What's the Difference?
Edited by Aimie Carlson || By Janet White || Updated on November 18, 2023
"Lift" and "Elevator" both refer to a mechanical device for moving people or goods vertically, but "Lift" is British English, while "Elevator" is American English.
Key Differences
"Lift" and "Elevator" essentially mean the same thing: they are both terms for a type of transport device that moves people or items vertically between different levels or floors in a building. "Lift" is the term commonly used in British English, while "Elevator" is the preference in American English.
Both "Lift" and "Elevator" are nouns when referring to the device, but it's interesting to note that "lift" can also be a verb, meaning to move or bring something upwards from a lower to a higher position, which is not the case with "elevator."
In a mechanical context, both "Lift" and "Elevator" function the same. They typically use a motor and a series of cables or hydraulics to raise and lower a platform or compartment. However, the terminology simply differs based on regional English preferences.
"Lift" and "Elevator" are synonymous and interchangeable when discussing travel within a building. They both signify a closed space, usually big enough for several people, designed to move vertically within a shaft.
The terms "Lift" and "Elevator" also extend to other types of lifting devices beyond buildings. For instance, "ski lift" or "elevator shoes," but the principle remains the same: they're designed to elevate or lift something from a lower position to a higher one.
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Comparison Chart
Regional Usage
Predominantly British English
Predominantly American English
Parts of Speech
Used as both a noun and a verb
Primarily used as a noun
Function
Moves people/goods vertically between floors
Moves people/goods vertically between floors
Context
Can be used in various contexts beyond buildings
Generally used for devices in buildings
Variants
Has more variations (e.g., "ski lift")
Fewer variations
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Lift and Elevator Definitions
Lift
A feeling of elation or elevated spirit.
Winning the game gave the team a lift.
Elevator
A mechanism for raising or lowering something, often used in machinery.
The grain elevator stores and processes the harvest.
Lift
An act of picking up someone or something and moving them/it to a different position.
He gave her a lift onto the horse’s back.
Elevator
A control surface on an aircraft used to make it ascend or descend.
The pilot adjusted the elevator to stabilize the plane.
Lift
To direct or carry from a lower to a higher position; raise
Lift one's eyes.
Lifted the suitcase.
Elevator
A moving platform or cage for carrying passengers or freight from one level to another, as in a building.
They waited for the elevator to arrive.
Lift
To transport by air
The helicopter lifted the entire team to the meet.
Elevator
A type of shoe or shoe insert that increases the wearer's height.
He wears elevators to appear taller.
Lift
To revoke by taking back; rescind
Lifted the embargo.
Elevator
A platform or an enclosure raised and lowered in a vertical shaft to transport people or freight.
Lift
To bring an end to (a blockade or siege) by removing forces.
Elevator
The enclosure or platform with its operating equipment, motor, cables, and accessories.
Lift
To cease (artillery fire) in an area.
Elevator
A movable control surface, usually attached to the horizontal stabilizer of an aircraft, that is used to produce motion up or down.
Lift
To raise in condition, rank, or esteem
Work that lifted her in the eyes of her colleagues.
Elevator
A mechanism, often with buckets or scoops attached to a conveyor, used for hoisting materials.
Lift
To uplift; elate
Your telephone call really lifted my spirits.
Elevator
See grain elevator.
Lift
To remove (plants) from the ground for transplanting.
Elevator
Anything that raises or uplifts.
Lift
To project or sound in loud, clear tones
Lifted their voices in song.
Elevator
A permanent construction with a built-in platform or cab that can be raised and lowered, used to transport people and goods, as between different floors of a building.
Lift
(Informal) To steal; pilfer
A thief lifted my wallet.
Elevator
A silo used for storing wheat, corn or other grain (grain elevator).
Lift
(Informal) To copy from something already published; plagiarize
Lifted whole paragraphs from the encyclopedia.
Elevator
(aeronautics) A control surface of an aircraft responsible for controlling the pitching motion of the machine.
Lift
To pay off or clear (a debt or mortgage, for example).
Elevator
A dental instrument used to pry up ("elevate") teeth in difficult extractions, or depressed portions of bone.
Lift
To perform cosmetic surgery on (the face, for example), especially in order to remove wrinkles or sagging skin.
Elevator
(anatomy) Any muscle that serves to raise a part of the body, such as the leg or the eye.
Lift
(Sports) To hit (a golf ball) very high into the air.
Elevator
A type of shoe having an insert lift to make the wearer appear taller.
Lift
To pick up (a golf ball) to place it in a better lie.
Elevator
One who, or that which, raises or lifts up anything.
Lift
To shoot or flip (a puck) so that it rises sharply off the ice.
Elevator
A mechanical contrivance, usually an endless belt or chain with a series of scoops or buckets, for transferring grain to an upper loft for storage.
Lift
To rise; ascend.
Elevator
A cage or platform (called an elevator car) and the hoisting machinery in a hotel, warehouse, mine, etc., for conveying persons, goods, etc., to or from different floors or levels; - called in England a lift; the cage or platform itself.
Lift
To yield to upward pressure
These windows lift easily.
Elevator
A building for elevating, storing, and discharging, grain.
Lift
To disappear or disperse by or as if by rising
By afternoon the smog had lifted.
Elevator
A muscle which serves to raise a part of the body, as the leg or the eye.
Lift
To stop temporarily
The rain lifted by morning.
Elevator
An instrument for raising a depressed portion of a bone.
Lift
To become elevated; soar
Their spirits lifted when help came.
Elevator
A movable plane or group of planes used to control the altitude or fore-and-aft poise or inclination of an airship or flying machine.
Lift
The act or process of rising or raising to a higher position.
Elevator
Lifting device consisting of a platform or cage that is raised and lowered mechanically in a vertical shaft in order to move people from one floor to another in a building
Lift
Power or force available for raising
The lift of a pump.
Elevator
The airfoil on the tailplane of an aircraft that makes it ascend or descend
Lift
An organized effort or a flight transporting supplies or people by airplane; an airlift.
Elevator
A device used to lift or move material in a warehouse.
We need to use the elevator for these heavy items.
Lift
The extent or height to which something is raised or rises; the amount of elevation.
Lift
The distance or space through which something is raised or rises.
Lift
A rise or an elevation in the level of the ground.
Lift
An elevation of the spirits
The good news gave us a lift.
Lift
A raised, high, or erect position, as of a part of the body
The lift of his chin.
Lift
A machine or device designed to pick up, raise, or carry something.
Lift
One of the layers of leather, rubber, or other material making up the heel of a shoe.
Lift
Chiefly British A passenger or cargo elevator.
Lift
A ride in a vehicle given to help someone reach a destination
Gave my friend a lift into town.
Lift
Assistance or help
Gave her a lift with her heavy packages.
Lift
A set of pumps used in a mine.
Lift
The component of the total aerodynamic force acting on an airfoil or on an entire aircraft or winged missile perpendicular to the relative wind and normally exerted in an upward direction, opposing the pull of gravity.
Lift
(ambitransitive) To raise or rise.
The fog eventually lifted, leaving the streets clear.
You never lift a finger to help me!
Lift
To steal.
Lift
To source directly without acknowledgement; to plagiarise.
Lift
To arrest (a person).
Lift
(transitive) To remove (a ban, restriction, etc.).
Lift
(transitive) To alleviate, to lighten (pressure, tension, stress, etc.)
Lift
(transitive) to cause to move upwards.
Lift
To lift weights; to weight-lift.
She lifts twice a week at the gym.
Lift
To try to raise something; to exert the strength for raising or bearing.
Lift
To elevate or improve in rank, condition, etc.; often with up.
Lift
(obsolete) To bear; to support.
Lift
To collect, as moneys due; to raise.
Lift
(programming) To transform (a function) into a corresponding function in a different context.
Lift
(finance) To buy a security or other asset previously offered for sale.
Lift
To take (hounds) off the existing scent and move them to another spot.
Lift
An act of lifting or raising.
Lift
The act of transporting someone in a vehicle; a ride; a trip.
He gave me a lift to the bus station.
Lift
Mechanical device for vertically transporting goods or people between floors in a building.
Take the lift to the fourth floor.
Lift
An upward force, such as the force that keeps aircraft aloft.
Lift
(measurement) The difference in elevation between the upper pool and lower pool of a waterway, separated by lock.
Lift
A thief.
Lift
(dance) The lifting of a dance partner into the air.
Lift
Permanent construction with a built-in platform that is lifted vertically.
Lift
(figurative) An improvement in mood.
Lift
The amount or weight to be lifted.
What's the maximum lift of this crane?
Lift
The space or distance through which anything is lifted.
Lift
A rise; a degree of elevation.
The lift of a lock in canals
Lift
A liftgate.
Lift
(nautical) A rope leading from the masthead to the extremity of a yard below, and used for raising or supporting the end of the yard.
Lift
(engineering) One of the steps of a cone pulley.
Lift
(shoemaking) A layer of leather in the heel of a shoe.
Lift
(horology) That portion of the vibration of a balance during which the impulse is given.
Lift
Air.
Lift
The sky; the heavens; firmament; atmosphere.
Lift
The sky; the atmosphere; the firmament.
Lift
Act of lifting; also, that which is lifted.
Lift
The space or distance through which anything is lifted; as, a long lift.
Lift
Help; assistance, as by lifting.
The goat gives the fox a lift.
Lift
That by means of which a person or thing lifts or is lifted
Lift
A rise; a degree of elevation; as, the lift of a lock in canals.
Lift
A lift gate. See Lift gate, below.
Lift
A rope leading from the masthead to the extremity of a yard below; - used for raising or supporting the end of the yard.
Lift
One of the steps of a cone pulley.
Lift
A layer of leather in the heel.
Lift
That portion of the vibration of a balance during which the impulse is given.
Lift
A brightening of the spirits; encouragement; as, the campaign workers got a lift from the President's endorsement.
Lift
To move in a direction opposite to that of gravitation; to raise; to elevate; to bring up from a lower place to a higher; to upheave; sometimes implying a continued support or holding in the higher place; - said of material things; as, to lift the foot or the hand; to lift a chair or a burden.
Lift
To raise, elevate, exalt, improve, in rank, condition, estimation, character, etc.; - often with up.
The Roman virtues lift up mortal man.
Lest, being lifted up with pride.
Lift
To bear; to support.
Lift
To collect, as moneys due; to raise.
Lift
To steal; to carry off by theft (esp. cattle); as, to lift a drove of cattle.
He ne'er lift up his hand but conquered.
Lift
To try to raise something; to exert the strength for raising or bearing.
Strained by lifting at a weight too heavy.
Lift
To rise; to become or appear raised or elevated; as, the fog lifts; the land lifts to a ship approaching it.
Lift
To steal; also, to live by theft.
Lift
The act of giving temporary assistance
Lift
The component of the aerodynamic forces acting on an airfoil that opposes gravity
Lift
The event of something being raised upward;
An elevation of the temperature in the afternoon
A raising of the land resulting from volcanic activity
Lift
A wave that lifts the surface of the water or ground
Lift
A powered conveyance that carries skiers up a hill
Lift
A device worn in a shoe or boot to make the wearer look taller or to correct a shortened leg
Lift
One of the layers forming the heel of a shoe or boot
Lift
Lifting device consisting of a platform or cage that is raised and lowered mechanically in a vertical shaft in order to move people from one floor to another in a building
Lift
Plastic surgery to remove wrinkles and other signs of aging from your face; an incision is made near the hair line and skin is pulled back and excess tissue is excised;
Some actresses have more than one face lift
Lift
Transportation of people or goods by air (especially when other means of access are unavailable)
Lift
A ride in a car;
He gave me a lift home
Lift
The act of raising something;
He responded with a lift of his eyebrow
Fireman learn several different raises for getting ladders up
Lift
Raise from a lower to a higher position;
Raise your hands
Lift a load
Lift
Take hold of something and move it to a different location;
Lift the box onto the table
Lift
Move upwards;
Lift one's eyes
Lift
Move upward;
The fog lifted
The smoke arose from the forest fire
The mist uprose from the meadows
Lift
Make audible;
He lifted a war whoop
Lift
Annul by recalling or rescinding;
He revoked the ban on smoking
Lift an embargo
Vacate a death sentence
Lift
Make off with belongings of others
Lift
Raise or haul up with or as if with mechanical help;
Hoist the bicycle onto the roof of the car
Lift
Invigorate or heighten;
Lift my spirits
Lift his ego
Lift
Raise in rank or condition;
The new law lifted many people from poverty
Lift
Take off or away by decreasing;
Lift the pressure
Lift
Rise up;
The building rose before them
Lift
Pay off (a mortgage)
Lift
Take without referencing from someone else's writing or speech; of intellectual property
Lift
Take illegally;
Rustle cattle
Lift
Fly people or goods to or from places not accessible by other means;
Food is airlifted into Bosnia
Lift
Take (root crops) out of the ground;
Lift potatoes
Lift
Call to stop the hunt or to retire, as of hunting dogs
Lift
Rise upward, as from pressure or moisture;
The floor is lifting slowly
Lift
Put an end to;
Lift a ban
Raise a siege
Lift
Remove (hair) by scalping
Lift
Remove from a seedbed or from a nursery;
Lift the tulip bulbs
Lift
Remove from a surface;
The detective carefully lifted some fingerprints from the table
Lift
Perform cosmetic surgery on someone's face
Lift
A platform or compartment housed in a shaft for raising and lowering people or things to different levels.
She took the lift to the tenth floor.
Lift
The act of raising or elevating something.
With a lift of his hand, he signaled for silence.
Lift
A free ride in another person's vehicle.
He was kind enough to give me a lift to the station.
FAQs
Is "Elevator" used in British English?
It's understood but less common than "Lift."
Are "Lift" and "Elevator" the same?
Yes, they refer to the same device but are used in different forms of English.
Does "Lift" have meanings beyond the vertical transport device?
Yes, it can also mean raising something or someone physically or improving mood.
Is "Lift" used in American English?
It's understood but less common than "Elevator."
Do "Lift" and "Elevator" function differently?
No, they function the same but are different terms for the same concept.
Can "Lift" also mean a ride in a car?
Yes, in British English, a "lift" can mean a free ride.
Can "Elevator" refer to a type of shoe?
Yes, "elevator shoes" have thickened sections of the insoles to make the wearer appear taller.
Are there places where both "Lift" and "Elevator" are used interchangeably?
In global or multicultural contexts, both terms may be understood and used.
Does "Lift" imply motion?
Yes, both upward motion and the device itself.
Is an "Elevator" only found in buildings?
Primarily, but the term extends to other lifting devices.
Can "Lift" refer to an emotional state?
Yes, as in feeling uplifted or happier.
Is "airlift" related to "Lift"?
Yes, it's a system of transporting people/goods by aircraft, especially in an emergency.
Can "Lift" be used as a verb?
Yes, it can mean to raise or elevate something.
What's a "ski lift"?
It's a mechanism for transporting skiers up a hill, unrelated to "elevator."
Is there a "Lift" or "Elevator" in aircraft terminology?
"Elevator" refers to a control surface on an aircraft's tailplane.
Is "Elevator" ever a verb?
No, it's used as a noun.
What does "elevator music" refer to?
It's a common term for the bland, background music often played in elevators.
What's an "elevator pitch"?
It's a brief, persuasive speech to spark interest in an idea, typically lasting no longer than a short elevator ride.
Can "Lift" mean stealing?
In slang, yes, "to lift" can mean to steal.
Are "elevator" and "escalator" the same?
No, an escalator is a moving staircase.
About Author
Written by
Janet WhiteJanet White has been an esteemed writer and blogger for Difference Wiki. Holding a Master's degree in Science and Medical Journalism from the prestigious Boston University, she has consistently demonstrated her expertise and passion for her field. When she's not immersed in her work, Janet relishes her time exercising, delving into a good book, and cherishing moments with friends and family.
Edited by
Aimie CarlsonAimie Carlson, holding a master's degree in English literature, is a fervent English language enthusiast. She lends her writing talents to Difference Wiki, a prominent website that specializes in comparisons, offering readers insightful analyses that both captivate and inform.
