fulcrum

1. (mechanics) The support about which a lever pivots.Examples: "It is possible to flick food across the table using your fork as a lever and your finger as a fulcrum."; "MILDRED: Archimedes said give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it and I will move the world. CHARLOTTE: Yeah she said that twaddle eight or nine times."; "A doorknob of whatever roundish shape is effectively a continuum of levers, with the axis of the latching mechanism—known as the spindle—being the fulcrum about which the turning takes place."

2. (figurative) A crux or pivot; a central point.Examples: "By this point the fulcrum of concern is the stuprum of men upon men, described as more prevalent than that upon women."; "Chelsea's Mason Mount is a top-class talent while West Ham midfielder Declan Rice has moved his game on to another level this season and will be the fulcrum of England's midfield this summer."figuratively