lift

Compared meaning: move something higher or increase it (verb).

比较义项：把某物移到更高的位置或提高程度、水平（举起、提高、提升）（动词）。

• raise

  The most common and neutral word for moving something up or increasing an amount; used for hands, voices, salaries, prices, and taxes, and works as easily with abstract quantities as with physical objects.

  最常用、最中性的词，表示举起某物或提高数量；可用于举手、提高音量、加薪、涨价、加税等，既能用于具体动作，也能用于抽象数量的增加。

  The company decided to raise everyone's salary this year.

  公司决定今年给所有员工加薪。

• lift 本词

  Stresses physical effort against gravity, especially with heavy or bulky objects; figuratively it can mean to boost someone's mood or remove a restriction, but it rarely means a simple increase in amount, like a price or a salary.

  强调克服重力的体力动作，尤其用于搬动沉重或体积大的物体；比喻用法可表示提振心情或解除限制，但很少用于表示价格、薪水等简单数量的提高。

  Can you help me lift this heavy box onto the shelf?

  你能帮我把这个沉重的箱子抬到架子上吗？

• elevate

  A more formal or technical word, common in medical, professional, and literary contexts; it means to raise something to a higher position and keep it there, rather than a quick physical action or an everyday increase.

  语气更正式、更专业的词，常见于医学、职场和书面语境；表示把某物提升到更高的位置并保持在那里，而不是快速的体力动作或日常的数量提高。

  Doctors recommend that patients elevate their legs to reduce swelling.

  医生建议患者抬高双腿以减轻肿胀。

Raise, lift, and elevate mean to make something higher. Raise is the most common and neutral. Lift stresses physical effort and can mean to boost mood. Elevate is more formal, used in medical writing. Raise can mean "to bring up a child," not compared here.

raise、lift、elevate 都表示「使某物升高」，但语气和场合不同：raise 最常用最中性，可用于具体动作也可用于抽象数量的增加；lift 强调克服重力的体力动作，也可比喻提振心情或解除限制；elevate 语气更正式，多见于医学、专业或书面语境。这里不比较 raise 的「抚养、饲养」义，也不比较 lift 作名词表示「电梯」或俚语中「偷窃」的用法。

Compared meaning: elevator, a machine that carries people up and down (noun).

比较义项：电梯（名词）。

• lift 本词

  British English word for this machine; natural in UK contexts such as London or an office building, but sounds foreign or overly formal in American speech, where elevator is used instead.

  这是英式英语中表示这种机器的说法，在伦敦、写字楼等英国语境中很自然，但在美式英语口语中听起来生硬或不地道，美式英语会用 elevator。

  In London, we took the lift up to the fourth floor of the office building.

  在伦敦，我们乘电梯到了那栋写字楼的四楼。

• elevator

  American English word for the same machine; the standard term in the US and widely used in American-influenced English worldwide, while British speakers say lift instead.

  这是美式英语中表示同一种机器的说法，是美国的标准用词，也广泛用于受美式英语影响的英语地区，而英式英语使用者会说 lift。

  In New York, we took the elevator up to the tenth floor of the hotel.

  在纽约，我们乘电梯到了酒店的十楼。

Lift and elevator both mean this machine, but the difference is regional. Lift is British English, natural in the UK. Elevator is American English, the standard word in the US. Lift as a verb meaning "to raise" is not compared here.

这两个词在这个意义上都表示“电梯”，区别主要在于地域用法：lift 是英式英语的说法，elevate 者不适用，elevator 是美式英语的说法，二者不能随意混用。这里不比较 lift 作动词表示“举起”的义项。