Crowbar

A crowbar is a metal tool used mainly to pry things open. It is usually hook shaped. Sometimes the bottom is slightly curved to allow for better leverage. Some crowbars have a notched end for removing nails. Crowbars are often made of carbon steel. They can also be made of titanium which is lighter and non-magnetic. The first known use of the word was somewhere in the 1400s where they were simply called crows or iron crows.

Man using a long crowbar to remove a board.

It is used as a lever either to force apart two objects or to remove nails. Crowbars are commonly used to open nailed wooden crates. Common uses for larger crowbars are: removing nails, prying apart boards, and generally breaking things. Crowbars can be used as any of the three lever classes but the curved end is usually used as a first-class lever, and the flat end as a second class lever. In mining, crowbars are used to break blasted rocks and to remove loose rock on roof sides and the working face, but not much in modern mining.

The Crowbar is also a popular melee weapon, and has, as a result, been used in many forms of media. Most notably, it is the melee weapon of choice for Gordon Freeman, the protagonist of the Half-Life game series.