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Acrowbar[a] is alever consisting of a metal bar with a single curved end and flattened points, used to force two objects apart or gainmechanical advantage in lifting; often the curved end has a notch for removingnails.
The design can be used as any of the threelever 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 asutility bars.
A commonhand tool, the crowbar is typically made of medium-carbonsteel, possibly hardened on its ends.[2]
Commonly crowbars are forged fromlong steel stock, either hexagonal or sometimes cylindrical. Alternative designs may be forged with a roundedI-shaped cross-section shaft. Versions using relatively wide flat steel bar are often referred to as "utility" or "flat bars".
The acceptedetymology[3][4] identifies the first component of the wordcrowbar 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 toc. 1400.[5] It was also called simply acrow, oriron crow;William Shakespeare used the latter,[6] as inRomeo and Juliet, Act 5, Scene 2: "Get me an iron crow and bring it straight unto my cell."
InDaniel Defoe's 1719 novelRobinson Crusoe, the protagonist lacks apickaxe so uses a crowbar instead: "As for the pickaxe, I made use of the iron crows, which were proper enough, though heavy."[7]
Types of crowbar include:[2]
