shaft

[ shaft, shahft ]

/ ʃæft, ʃɑft /

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See synonyms for: shaft / shafted / shafting on Thesaurus.com

noun

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

something directed or barbed as in sharp attack: shafts of sarcasm.

a ray or beam: a shaft of sunlight.

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.

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.

a flagpole.

Architecture.

that part of a column or pier between the base and capital.
any distinct, slender, vertical masonry feature engaged in a wall or pier and usually supporting or feigning to support an arch or vault.

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

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

any well-like passage or vertical enclosed space, as in a building: an elevator shaft.

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

Botany. the trunk of a tree.

Zoology. the main stem or midrib of a feather.

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.

the part of a candelabrum that supports the branches.

Slang: Vulgar. the penis.

Slang: harsh, unfair, or treacherous treatment: I feel like he’s giving me the shaft.

verb (used with object)

to push or propel with a pole: to shaft a boat through a tunnel.

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

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Origin of shaft

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

OTHER WORDS FROM shaft

shaftless, adjectiveshaftlike, adjectivesubshaft, nounun·shaft·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use shaft in a sentence

To Corliss’s left, the Umgeni River poured green and clear off the cliff to become Howick Falls, a gargantuan shaft of water that crashed off rock ledges and thundered into a deep pool below.
What’s Wrong with Jeb’s Brain?|Daniel Duane|November 18, 2020|Outside Online
I was able to straddle the thrashing fish, grasping the shaft on either side of its head like handlebars on a motorcycle, and eventually subdued it with my dive knife.
Take a stab at spearfishing with these tips|Same Romano/Outdoor Life|November 16, 2020|Popular-Science
Areas that would normally be dark and unassuming have more life — rays of light peek through slits of ventilation shafts as Miles crawls inside.
PlayStation 5 review: PS5 is a sensory game-changer|Elise Favis|November 6, 2020|Washington Post
Her toolkit included four spearpoints that would have been attached to shafts and likely hurled at prey using hand-held spear throwers.
Female big-game hunters may have been surprisingly common in the ancient Americas|Bruce Bower|November 4, 2020|Science News

What’s more, the Paninaro’s tall, zippered shaft makes it a cinch to drop in a hand warmer for an extra dose of heat.
11 Ways to Stay Warm This Winter|Outside Editors|October 19, 2020|Outside Online
We can summarize the three and a half hours of Oscars content for shafted viewers.
ABC Promised to Livestream the Oscars and Totally Failed|Amy Zimmerman|March 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
LEO You are acutely aware of situations in which you feel, frankly, shafted.
What the Stars Hold for Your Week|Starsky + Cox|July 23, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Right over the stone marker, a long-shafted war-lance was carved—the blade pointing down.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair
In the hand of the other akninili was placed a blue shafted wand, to show that he came from the south.
The Mountain Chant, A Navajo Ceremony|Washington Matthews
There is a good tower-arch, a five-shafted font, and excellent wagon-shaped roofs; chancel-screen and reredos are modern.
The Cornwall Coast|Arthur L. Salmon
The other long-shafted staff weapons may be divided into those for stabbing and those for cutting.
Armour & Weapons|Charles John Ffoulkes
The stabbing or thrusting long-shafted weapons include the Lance, Spear, and Javelin.
Armour & Weapons|Charles John Ffoulkes

British Dictionary definitions for shaft

shaft

/ (ʃɑːft) /

noun

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

something directed at a person in the manner of a missileshafts of sarcasm

a ray, beam, or streak, esp of light

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

a revolving rod that transmits motion or power: usually used of axial rotationCompare rod (def. 9)

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

anatomy

the middle part (diaphysis) of a long bone
the main portion of any elongated structure or part

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

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

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

a vertical passageway through a building, as for a lift

a vertical passageway into a mine

ornithol the central rib of a feather

an archaic or literary word for arrow

get the shaft US and Canadian slang to be tricked or cheated

verb

slang to have sexual intercourse with (a woman)

slang to trick or cheat

Word Origin for shaft

Old English sceaft; related to Old Norse skapt, German Schaft, Latin scāpus shaft, Greek skeptron sceptre, Lettish skeps javelin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medical definitions for shaft

shaft

[ shăft ]

An elongated rodlike structure, such as the midsection of a long bone.

The section of a hair projecting from the surface of the body.

shaft

Origin of shaft

OTHER WORDS FROM shaft

Words related to shaft

How to use shaft in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for shaft

Word Origin for shaft

Medical definitions for shaft