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.

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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

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Etymology

Origin of crowbar

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

Example Sentences

Whoever is given the job of informing him of that had better take a handful of sedatives and a crowbar to pry the president off the wall of the Oval Office.

From Salon • Apr. 10, 2026

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

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

You probably couldn’t pry her out with a crowbar.

From New York Times • Nov. 25, 2023

Tools for emergency, tow lines, a small block and tackle, a trenching tool and crowbar, tools for making and fixing and improvising.

From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck

Related Words

• chisel
• lever