A crowbar

A crowbar, also called a pry bar or prybar, or more informally known as a jimmy, jimmy bar^{[citation needed]} or jemmy (British Isles), is a tool consisting of a metal bar with a single curved end and flattened points, often with a small fissure on the curved end for removing nails. In the British Isles "crowbar" may be used loosely for this tool, but is more commonly used to mean a larger straight tool (see spud bar); the term "jemmy" most often refers to the tool when used for burglary. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1016x750, 36 KB) Description de:: Brecheisen en:: Crowbar fr:: Pied de biche Photographer Isabelle Grosjean ZA Date 2001-09-13 License GFDL-self Camera Sony PSC-P92 Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: User:Nufy8 Crowbar (tool... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1016x750, 36 KB) Description de:: Brecheisen en:: Crowbar fr:: Pied de biche Photographer Isabelle Grosjean ZA Date 2001-09-13 License GFDL-self Camera Sony PSC-P92 Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: User:Nufy8 Crowbar (tool... This article describes the archipelago in north-western Europe. ... A modern hammer is directly descended from ancient hand tools A tool or device is a piece of equipment which typically provides a mechanical advantage in accomplishing a physical task, or provides an ability that is not naturally available to the user of a tool. ... This article is about metallic materials. ... A pole is a long and stiff cylinder usually made of wood, aluminium, iron, carbon fiber, or other materials. ... A pile of nails. ... This article describes the archipelago in north-western Europe. ... A spud bar, scale in inches/feet A spud bar is a hand tool designed to deliver blows to a target, causing the target to move or deform. ...

It is used as a lever to either force apart two objects or to remove nails. Crowbars are commonly used to open nailed wooden boxes. Another common use for larger crowbars is general demolition: for removing nails, prying apart boards, and generally smashing things. It has also been used as a weapon in hold-ups. Levers can be used to exert a large force over a small distance at one end by exerting only a small force over a greater distance at the other. ... For other uses, see Wood (disambiguation). ... This article is about the receptacle or vessel called a box. ...

Crowbars can be used as any of the three lever classes but are generally used as a 1st or 2nd class lever. Levers can be used to exert a large force over a small distance at one end by exerting only a small force over a greater distance at the other. ...

Materials and construction

Normally made of medium carbon steel, they can be made from titanium also, which has the advantage of being lighter, nonmagnetic, and spark-resistant. For other uses, see Steel (disambiguation). ... General Name, symbol, number titanium, Ti, 22 Chemical series transition metals Group, period, block 4, 4, d Appearance silvery metallic Standard atomic weight 47. ...

The least expensive, most common crowbars are forged from hexagonal or sometimes cylindrical stock. More advanced, expensive designs often are forged with an I shaped cross sectional shaft similar to an I-beam. This shape makes them more resistant to bending. I-beams are beams with an I- or H-shaped cross-section. ... Figure 1. ...

Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• There is a popular story that the term crowbar derives from Jim Crow and they were used by blacks to perform menial tasks, and the word thus has racist origins. This is a false etymology; the term crowbar traces to at least 1400; and is not in any sense racist. As they resembled the feet or beaks of a crow, they were first called crow bars; later the two joined into one word.^[1] They also were called crows; William Shakespeare used the term crow in many places^[2], including his written-in-the-1590s play Romeo and Juliet, Act 5, scene ii:

Get me an iron crow and bring it straight.

Unto my cell. ...

Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... This box:      The Jim Crow Laws were state and local laws enacted in the Southern and border states of the United States and enforced between 1876 and 1965. ... A false etymology is an assumed or postulated etymology which is incorrect from the perspective of modern scholarly work in historical linguistics. ... Events Henry IV quells baron rebellion and executes The Earls of Kent, Huntingdon and Salisbury for their attempt to have Richard II of England restored as King Jean Froissart writes the Chronicles Medici family becomes powerful in Florence, Italy Births December 25 - John Sutton, 1st Baron Dudley, Lord Lieutenant of... For other uses, see Crow (disambiguation). ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... March 14 - Battle of Ivry - Henry IV of France again defeats the forces of the Catholic League under the Duc de Mayenne. ... Romeo and Juliet in the famous balcony scene by Ford Madox Brown For other uses, see Romeo and Juliet (disambiguation). ...

Popular culture

In some computer games a crowbar is the basic mêlée weapon wielded by the player character; this practice appears to have been started in 1998's Half-Life.^{[citation needed]} A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ... Mêlée generally refers to disorganized hand-to-hand combat involving a group of fighters. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... Half-Life For a quantity subject to exponential decay, the half-life is the time required for the quantity to fall to half of its initial value. ...

Examples include:

• Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth
• Deus Ex
• Condemned: Criminal Origins
• Half-Life
• Half-Life 2
• Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven
• Manhunt
• Siren
• Urban Dead

Many pieces of zombie-related fiction, such as Max Brooks' The Zombie Survival Guide, make special note of the crowbar as perhaps the best all-around mêlée weapon—not only does it make a useful tool, but it is light enough to be carried and wielded quickly and is also heavy and durable enough to deal an effective blow, with a pointed end capable of penetrating a skull. As zombies traditionally cease function when the brain is destroyed, this is extremely important in combat with them. This article is about the video game. ... Half-Life For a quantity subject to exponential decay, the half-life is the time required for the quantity to fall to half of its initial value. ... Half-Life 2 (HL2) is a science fiction first-person shooter computer game that is the sequel to Half-Life. ... Manhunter: New York and Manhunter 2: San Francisco Manhunt is a controversial video game released by Rockstar Games in November, 2003. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Urban Dead is an HTML/text-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game created by Kevan Davis. ... This article is about the undead. ... The Zombie Survival Guide, published in 2003, is a fictional survival manual that deals with the potentiality of an undead attack. ...

In the videogames:

• Tomb Raider III
• Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation
• Tomb Raider Chronicles
• Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness

The crowbar is used to break padlocks Tomb Raider III: Adventures of Lara Croft is the third game in the Tomb Raider series, and the sequel to Tomb Raider II. It was developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. ... Tomb Raider Chronicles is the fifth game in the Tomb Raider series and the sequel to Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation. ... Padlock A modern padlock. ...

References

1. ^ The etymology of crowbar is not in any sense racist
2. ^ Shakespeare reference