A jaw crusher is a pressure type crusher that consists of a fixed jaw and a movable jaw in a (V). The movable jaw compresses the material against the fixed jaw and crushes the material to the desired size. This material exits the jaw through the bottom of the crusher, otherwise known as the discharge opening. Changing the discharge opening controls the size of the product made by the crusher.

Jaw crushers are mainly used in the primary stage of material reduction in several applications including quarrying, sand and gravel, mining, construction and demolition recycling, building materials, metallurgy and chemical industries.