crowbar

[kroh-bahr]

noun

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

verb (used with object)

crowbarred, crowbarring 

1. to pry open, loosen, etc., with a crowbar.

   We had to crowbar a window to get in.

crowbar

/ ˈkrəʊˌbɑː /

noun

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of crowbar¹

1740–50, crow ¹ + bar ¹; so called because one end was beak-shaped

Example Sentences

She said another lock appeared to have been tampered with "using a crowbar or similar tool", but to no avail.

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Memphis, Tennessee, police stopped a man trying to pry up a manhole cover with a crowbar.

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Roske pleaded guilty in April, nearly three years after being arrested outside Kavanaugh’s house with a pistol, zip ties, duct tape, pepper spray, crowbar and hammer, along with other burglary tools, according to court records.

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Surveillance footage obtained by ABC News showed suspects using crowbars to break glass and pilfer an estimated $1 million in loot, while others entered the store with handguns.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Palestine Action, which posted the footage online, also said the activists had also used crowbars to damage the planes.

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Related Words

• chisel 
• lever