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.

Nearby words

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

Examples from the Web for 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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
Abad told the police her mother had struck her with a crowbar.
The Murder Mystery Rocking Miami|Gerald Posner|February 2, 2010|DAILY BEAST

And then, do you see me walking about with a crowbar in my hand?
Victory|Joseph Conrad
How about that crowbar an' steel cable then, what you had on your sled the other night?
Smoke Bellew|Jack London
A young man wearing a windbreaker jacket and awkwardly holding a crowbar spoke first.
The Mystery of Jockey Hollow|Cleo Garis
It was as if a slab of rock fitted roughly into grooves had first been lifted, and had then fallen heavily on to the crowbar.
It Happened in Egypt|C. N. Williamson
Insert a crowbar under the glass that covers the man and lift it carefully away.
The Buttoned Sky|Geoff St. Reynard

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

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."