Ten levers she turned, all the same (12)
I believe the answer is:
nevertheless
'all the same' is the definition.
('nevertheless' can be a synonym of 'all the same')
'ten levers she turned' is the wordplay.
'turned' indicates anagramming the letters.
'ten'+'levers'+'she'='tenleversshe'
'tenleversshe' is an anagram of 'NEVERTHELESS'.
(Other definitions for nevertheless that I've seen before include "anyhow" , "Notwithstanding" , "Still" , "But always" , "at any rate" .)