The slender, smooth stem of an arrow; hence, an arrow.
His sleep, his meat, his drink, is him bereft,
That lean he wax, and dry as is a shaft.
A shaft hath three principal parts, the stele [stale], the feathers, and the head.
The long handle of a spear or similar weapon; hence, the weapon itself; (Fig.) anything regarded as a shaft to be thrown or darted; as, shafts of light. [Fig.]
And the thunder,
Winged with red lightning and impetuous rage,
Perhaps hath spent his shafts.
Some kinds of literary pursuits . . . have been attacked with all the shafts of ridicule.
That which resembles in some degree the stem or handle of an arrow or a spear; a long, slender part, especially when cylindrical. (Bot.)
Thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold . . . his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same.
The handle or helve of certain tools, instruments, etc., as a hammer, a whip, etc. (Arch.) [Obs.]
Bid time and nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to thee.
A rod at the end of a heddle. (Weaving)
A humming bird (Thaumastura cora) having two of the tail feathers next to the middle ones very long in the male; -- called also cora humming bird. (Zool.)
A well-like excavation in the earth, perpendicular or nearly so, made for reaching and raising ore, for raising water, etc. (Mining)
A long passage for the admission or outlet of air; an air shaft.
The chamber of a blast furnace.
Phrases & Compounds
Line shaft
a main shaft of considerable length, in a shop or factory, usually bearing a number of pulleys by which machines are driven, commonly by means of countershafts; -- called also line, or main line.
Shaft alley
a passage extending from the engine room to the stern, and containing the propeller shaft.
Shaft furnace
a furnace, in the form of a chimney, which is charged at the top and tapped at the bottom.