Webster's English Dictionary

Enter the word to look up:

shaft

shaft \'shaft\ \'shavz\ n or shaves [ME, fr. OE sceaft; akin to OHG scaft 
   shaft, L scapus shaft,]stalk, Gk ske-ptron staff, L capo capon - more at 
   CAPON 1a1: the long handle of a spear or similar weapon  1a2: SPEAR, LANCE  
   pl  1b: POLE; specif : either of two long peices of wood between  which a 
   horse is hitched to a vehicle 1c1: an arrow esp. for a longbow  1c2: the 
   body or stem of an arrow extending from the nock to the head  2: a sharply 
   delineated beam shining through an opening  3: something suggestive of the 
   shaft of a spear or arrow esp. in long slend er cylindrical form  as 3a: 
   the trunk of a tree  3b: the cylindrical pillar between the capital and the 
   base  3c: the handle or helve of any of various tools or instruments  3d: a 
   commonly cylindrical bar used to support rotating peices or to transm it 
   power or motion by rotation 3e: the stem or midrib of a feather  3f: the 
   upright member of a cross esp. below the arms  3g: a small architectural 
   column  3h: a column, obelisk, or other spire-shaped or columnar monument  
   3i: a vertical or inclined opening of uniform and limited cross section mad 
   e for finding or mining ore, raising water, or ventilating underground 
   workings (as in a cave) 3j: a vertical opening or passage through the 
   floors of a building  4a: a projectile thrown like a spear or shot like an 
   arrow  4b: a scornful, satirical, or pithily critical remark 
2. shaft vt : to fit with a shaft