shaft

American  

[shaft, shahft] / ʃæft, ʃɑft /

noun

1. a long pole forming the body of various weapons, as lances, halberds, or arrows.

2. something directed or barbed as in sharp attack.

   shafts of sarcasm.

3. a ray or beam.

   a shaft of sunlight.

4. a long, comparatively straight handle serving as an important or balancing part of an implement or device, as of a hammer, ax, golf club, or other implement.

5. Machinery. a rotating or oscillating round, straight bar for transmitting motion and torque, usually supported on bearings and carrying gears, wheels, or the like, as a propeller shaft on a ship, or a drive shaft of an engine.

6. a flagpole.

7. Architecture.

   1. that part of a column or pier between the base and capital.

   2. any distinct, slender, vertical masonry feature engaged in a wall or pier and usually supporting or feigning to support an arch or vault.

8. a monument in the form of a column, obelisk, or the like.

9. either of the parallel bars of wood between which the animal drawing a vehicle is hitched.

10. any well-like passage or vertical enclosed space, as in a building.

    an elevator shaft.

11. Mining. a vertical or sloping passageway leading to the surface.

12. Botany. the trunk of a tree.

13. Zoology. the main stem or midrib of a feather.

14. Also called leaf.  Textiles. the harness or warp with reference to the pattern of interlacing threads in weave constructions (usually used in combination).

    an eight-shaft satin.

15. the part of a candelabrum that supports the branches.

16. Slang: Vulgar. the penis.

17. Slang: harsh, unfair, or treacherous treatment.

    I feel like he’s giving me the shaft.

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verb (used with object)

1. to push or propel with a pole.

   to shaft a boat through a tunnel.

2. Slang. to treat in a harsh, unfair, or treacherous manner.

shaft British  

/ ʃɑːft /

noun

1. the long narrow pole that forms the body of a spear, arrow, etc

2. something directed at a person in the manner of a missile

   shafts of sarcasm

3. a ray, beam, or streak, esp of light

4. a rod or pole forming the handle of a hammer, axe, golf club, etc

5. a revolving rod that transmits motion or power: usually used of axial rotation Compare rod

6. one of the two wooden poles by which an animal is harnessed to a vehicle

7. anatomy

   1. the middle part (diaphysis) of a long bone

   2. the main portion of any elongated structure or part

8. the middle part of a column or pier, between the base and the capital

9. a column, obelisk, etc, esp one that forms a monument

10. architect a column that supports a vaulting rib, sometimes one of a set

11. a vertical passageway through a building, as for a lift

12. a vertical passageway into a mine

13. ornithol the central rib of a feather

14. an archaic or literary word for arrow

15. slang to be tricked or cheated

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verb

1. slang to have sexual intercourse with (a woman)

2. slang to trick or cheat

Other Word Forms

• shaftless adjective
• shaftlike adjective
• subshaft noun
• unshafted adjective

Etymology

Origin of shaft

First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English sceaft; cognate with German Schaft; compare Latin scāpus “shaft,” Greek skêptron scepter

Explanation

The noun shaft refers to something that resembles a long, thin pole, such as the long part of an arrow between the tip and the feathers. The word shaft can describe all kinds of things that are long and thin, such a shaft of light or a spear or the handle of a golf club or the midsection of a long bone. A shaft can also be a long narrow tunnel, generally one that runs straight up and down, such as a mine shaft or an elevator shaft. You might think these items don’t have much in common, but think about their shape: they’re all long, straight, and thin.

Example Sentences

They allow gimmes if the putt is within the shaft of your putter.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 5, 2026

And yet, Gellar has gotten the shaft time and again, unable to fully break free from the characters she’s known for to craft a new on-screen persona that fans can fall in love with.

From Salon • Mar. 26, 2026

Audi wanted F1 to remove the MGU-H - the device that recovered energy from the turbo shaft - fearing it was too complex and they would never catch up if it was kept.

From BBC • Mar. 10, 2026

A pair of turbines are joined to a single shaft.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 12, 2026

Moonlight cut a cool blue shaft through the air and landed squarely on the face of the mantel clock, which glowed like an answering moon.

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood

Related Words

• beam
• chimney
• cylinder
• duct
• rod
• tunnel