A crowbar, also called a wrecking bar, pry bar or prybar, pinch-bar, or occasionally a prise bar or prisebar, colloquially gooseneck, or pig bar, or in Australia a jemmy, is a

lever A lever is a simple machine consisting of a beam (structure), beam or rigid rod pivoted at a fixed hinge, or '':wikt:fulcrum, fulcrum''. A lever is a rigid body capable of rotating on a point on itself. On the basis of the locations of fulcrum, l ...

consisting of a metal bar with a single curved end and flattened points, used to force two objects apart or gain mechanical advantage in lifting; often the curved end has a notch for removing nails. The design can be used as any of the three lever classes. The curved end is usually used as a first-class lever, and the flat end as a second-class lever. Designs made from thick flat steel bar are often referred to as utility bars.

Materials and construction

A common hand tool, the crow bar is typically made of medium-carbon

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

, possibly hardened on its ends. Commonly crowbars are forged from long steel stock, either hexagonal or sometimes cylindrical. Alternative designs may be forged with a rounded I-shaped cross-section shaft. Versions using relatively wide flat steel bar are often referred to as "utility" or "flat bars".

Etymology and usage

The accepted

etymology Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...

identifies the first component of the word ''crowbar'' with the bird-name "

crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly, a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not linked scientifically to any certain trait but is rathe ...

", perhaps due to the crowbar's resemblance to the feet or beak of a crow. The first use of the term is dated back to . It was also called simply a ''crow'', or ''iron crow'';

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

used the latter, as in ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'', Act 5, Scene 2: "Get me an iron crow and bring it straight unto my cell." In

Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; 1660 – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, merchant and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its number of translati ...

's 1719 novel '' Robinson Crusoe'', the protagonist lacks a

pickaxe A pickaxe, pick-axe, or pick is a generally T-shaped hand tool used for Leverage (mechanics), prying. Its head is typically metal, attached perpendicularly to a longer handle, traditionally made of wood, occasionally metal, and increasingly ...

so uses a crowbar instead: "As for the pickaxe, I made use of the iron crows, which were proper enough, though heavy."

Types

Types of crowbar include: *Alignment pry bar, also referred to as Sleeve bar *Cat’s claw pry bar, more simply known as a cat's paw * Digging pry bar *Flat pry bar *Gooseneck pry bar *Heavy-duty pry bar *Molding pry bar *Rolling head pry bar

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crowbar (Tool) Hand tools Woodworking hand tools Mechanical hand tools

Materials and construction

Etymology and usage

Types

See also

References