Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

crowbar

American  
[kroh-bahr] / ˈkroʊˌbɑr /

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 British  
/ ˈkrəʊˌbɑː /

noun

  1. 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

Etymology

Origin of crowbar

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Armed with nothing but a crowbar and shovel in the hills of Somaliland, Ahmed Ibrahim hacks away at rocks where he and fellow miners have already found tonnes of lithium.

From Barron's • Feb. 25, 2026

If our hearts weren’t already open, they’ve just been forced ajar with a rusty, emotional crowbar.

From Salon • Nov. 30, 2025

With a crowbar I could have reached down and touched them, felt the pulse of the world’s information traveling through my fingertips.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 28, 2025

The court also heard from Loris Bertoliatti, representing the Museum of Far Eastern Art, who said damage caused by a power saw, sledgehammer and crowbar cost the institution millions.

From BBC • Jan. 16, 2024

He reaches for the crowbar, but, as a surrogate big brother, I hold it out of reach, indicating that’s enough.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.