Crowbar
{{Short description|Hand tool for prying boards and nails}}
{{about|the tool|other uses}}
{{Redirect|Jemmy|people named Jemmy|Jemmy (given name)}}
{{Redirect|Wrecking bar|the long handled socket wrench|Breaker bar|the 2010 single by the Vaccines|Wreckin' Bar}}
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File:Standard Crowbar Black.jpg for leverage and a goose neck to pull nails]]
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,{{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}} 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; 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
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A common hand tool, the crow bar is typically made of medium-carbon steel, 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 etymologyOED: [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]; [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], sense 5aAHD: [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 }} 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}}.Snopes: [http://www.snopes.com/language/offense/crowbar.asp crowbar] It was also called simply a crow, or iron crow; William Shakespeare used the latter,{{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}} 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."{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}
Types
Types of crowbar include:{{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?}}
- 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
References
{{commons category|Crowbars}}
{{Spoken Wikipedia|date=2025-01-08|Narration of Crowbar article.mp3}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Hand tools}}
{{Mining equipment}}
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