{{Short description|Hand tool for prying boards and nails}} {{about|the tool|other uses}} {{Redirect|Jemmy|people named Jemmy|Jemmy (given name)}} {{For|the Australian and New Zealand tool|Digging bar}} {{Hatnote group|{{Redirect|Wrecking bar|the single by the Vaccines|Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra) / Blow It Up}}{{Distinguish|Breaker bar}} }} {{More citations needed|date=November 2023}} [[File:Standard Crowbar Black.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.3|A crowbar with a curved chisel end to provide a fulcrum for leverage and a goose neck to pull nails]]
A '''crowbar'''{{efn|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'''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Oxford English Dictionary|url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordenglishdic0015unse|url-access=registration|date=1989|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-861186-8|pages=jimmy 1, n. 6}}</ref>}} is a lever 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;<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hallman |first=Richard |title=Handtools for Trail Work |publisher=United States Forest Service |year=1988 |edition=2005 |pages=33}}</ref> 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 crowbar is typically made of medium-carbon steel, possibly hardened on its ends.<ref name="specopstools">{{Cite web|url=https://specopstools.com/blog/what-is-a-pry-bar-and-what-are-they-used-for/|title=What is a Pry Bar and What Are They Used For?|access-date=2020-12-14|archive-date=2021-09-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921072606/https://specopstools.com/blog/what-is-a-pry-bar-and-what-are-they-used-for/|url-status=live}}</ref>
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<ref>OED: [http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50054753?query_type=word&queryword=crowbar&first=1&max_to_show=10&sort_type=alpha&result_place=1&search_id=ho1j-f4F5IQ-2786&hilite=50054753 crow-bar] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190701161334/http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50054753?query_type=word&queryword=crowbar&first=1&max_to_show=10&sort_type=alpha&result_place=1&search_id=ho1j-f4F5IQ-2786&hilite=50054753 |date=2019-07-01 }}; [http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50054746?query_type=word&queryword=crowbar&first=1&max_to_show=10&sort_type=alpha&result_place=1 crow] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190701161334/http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50054746?query_type=word&queryword=crowbar&first=1&max_to_show=10&sort_type=alpha&result_place=1 |date=2019-07-01 }}, sense 5a</ref><ref>AHD: [http://www.bartleby.com/61/95/C0769500.html crow] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080312090547/http://www.bartleby.com/61/95/C0769500.html |date=2008-03-12 }}</ref> identifies the first component of the word ''crowbar'' with the bird-name "crow", 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 {{circa|1400}}.<ref>Snopes: [http://www.snopes.com/language/offense/crowbar.asp crowbar] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200107192300/https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/crowbar/ |date=2020-01-07 }}</ref> It was also called simply a ''crow'', or ''iron crow''; William Shakespeare used the latter,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sparknotes.com/nofear/shakespeare/romeojuliet/page_256/|title=No Fear Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet: Act 5 Scene 2|website=www.sparknotes.com|access-date=2019-01-04|archive-date=2022-02-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220207164516/https://www.sparknotes.com/nofear/shakespeare/romeojuliet/page_256/|url-status=live}}</ref> as in ''Romeo and Juliet'', Act 5, Scene 2: "Get me an iron crow and bring it straight unto my cell."
In Daniel Defoe's 1719 novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', the protagonist lacks a pickaxe so uses a crowbar instead: "As for the pickaxe, I made use of the iron crows, which were proper enough, though heavy."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Defoe |first1=Daniel |title=Robinson Crusoe |year=1983 |orig-date=1719 |editor1-last=Crowley |editor1-first=J. Donald |edition=The World's Classics |location= |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn= 0-19-281555-5 }}</ref>
==Types== Types of crowbar include:<ref name="specopstools"/> *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
==See also== * Halligan bar * Fencing bar * Tire iron
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{commons category|Crowbars}} {{Spoken Wikipedia|date=2025-01-08|Narration of Crowbar article.mp3}} {{Reflist}}
{{Hand tools}} {{Mining equipment}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crowbar (Tool)}} Category:Hand tools Category:Woodworking hand tools Category:Mechanical hand tools