slice bar
- noun
- Archaic
- He gripped the heavy slice bar and began chipping away at the hardened deposits.
Examples
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Proper use of a slice bar can prevent dangerous blockages in industrial furnaces.
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The worker used a slice bar to clear the clinkers from the bottom of the furnace.
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The worker used a slice bar to clean the furnace.
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A slice bar is essential for maintaining furnace efficiency.
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Joe used the slice bar to clear the stubborn clinkers from the furnace.
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With a firm grip on the slice bar, she raked out the clinkers that had built up in the furnace.
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The workers demonstrated how to handle a slice bar effectively to remove debris from the hot furnace.
Synonyms
A long metal bar with a flat end used to lift or move heavy things
A heavy metal tool with a flat pointed end used to lift things and pull nails
A long strong iron bar with a flat or forked end that you use to force things apart
A long heavy metal tool with a flat chisel end for prying and a curved claw end for pulling nails
Surface Forms
Morphology
slice + bar
Even though 'bar' is transparent, the constituent 'slice' here is either an uncommon specialist sense or not obviously related to the tool's function; a B1 learner who knows 'slice' as 'cut' would likely infer a cutting implement, which misrepresents the actual meaning (a tool for loosening/raking clinkers). The specialized, non-compositional usage and low predictability make the expression opaque to learners.
Etymology
The tool slice bar gets its name from what it does: a long iron bar used to slice or pry away hard, burned lumps from the bottom of a furnace. That's why slice bar means 'an iron bar used to loosen and rake clinkers out of furnaces'.