A handspike is a metal bar or pipe that is used as a lever for prying or leverage, similar to a crowbar.[1] Handspike is also an archaic term for a bar or lever, generally of wood, used in a windlass or capstan, for heaving anchor, and, in modified forms, for various other purposes.[2][3]

On the Calder and Hebble Navigation in England, a handspike in the form of a length of 2-by-4-inch (5 by 10 cm) timber shaped at one end to provide a comfortable two-handed grip is used to operate the winding gear of some of the locks.

References

  1. ↑ G. & C. Merriam Co., Webster's new collegiate dictionary, ISBN 0-87779-338-7
  2. ↑ Merriam-Webster dictionary (1913)
  3. ↑ Oxford English Dictionary Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) © Oxford University Press 2009


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