Quick Clarification: Can someone explain to me mechanical advantage?

So far I've only seen this in terms of a lever question (it's UWorld question so I don't think I can post it here)But this is the explanation I've been - a quick summary.F i d i= F o d oi = inputo = outputAnd if it's a lever it's W = F x distance...does this mean that mechanical advantage is looked as a ratio?And if that's the case would a smaller mechanical advantage mean that it takes more force to keep a lever balanced at a fulcrum?​I probably could've asked my question better but I'm just trying to see what really is supposed to happen, not necessarily the calculations per se.