crowbar

[kroh-bahr]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR crowbar ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Also called crow. a steel bar, usually flattened and slightly bent at one or both ends, used as a lever.

verb (used with object), crow·barred, crow·bar·ring.

to pry open, loosen, etc., with a crowbar: We had to crowbar a window to get in.

Origin of crowbar

1740–50, Americanism; crow¹ + bar¹; so called because one end was beak-shaped

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for crowbar

lever, chisel, extract, jimmy, pry, remove

Examples from the Web for crowbar

Contemporary Examples of crowbar

“One swipe with a crowbar and he would have been down,” Sasha said.
I Heard About the Latest Crazed Shooter While I Watched the World Cup with Guys He Almost Killed
Daniel Genis
July 1, 2014
How can he have a crowbar with him when he gets to the warehouse?
How to Write Groundhog Day: 10 Rules for Screenwriters
Danny Rubin
October 20, 2012
Considering you would need a crowbar to pry them apart, it's true that food and wine in France share a special bond.
All Hail the French Meal
Amelia Smith
December 6, 2010
Abad told the police her mother had struck her with a crowbar.
The Murder Mystery Rocking Miami
Gerald Posner
February 2, 2010

Historical Examples of crowbar

Finally we had to dig out the crowbar and I went to work on the top.
Arm of the Law
Harry Harrison
Csar was gitting as straight as a crowbar and as grim as a gannet.
The Manxman
Hall Caine
Why had Worth gone to the shed hunting a crowbar to open the door?
The Million-Dollar Suitcase
Alice MacGowan
You use a crowbar when you want to raise a heavy object such as a rock.
Common Science
Carleton W. Washburne
Heyst yelled to the Chinaman, who was running with the crowbar in his hand.
Victory
Joseph Conrad

British Dictionary definitions for crowbar

crowbar

noun

a heavy iron lever with one pointed end, and one forged into a wedge shape

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for crowbar

1748, with bar (n.1), earlier simply crow (c.1400); so called from its "beak" or from resemblance to a crow's foot; or possibly it is from crows, from Old French cros, plural of croc "hook."