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Shaft   /ʃæft/   Listen
noun
Shaft  n.  
1.
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."
2.
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. "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."
3.
That which resembles in some degree the stem or handle of an arrow or a spear; a long, slender part, especially when cylindrical. Specifically:
(a)
(Bot.) The trunk, stem, or stalk of a plant.
(b)
(Zool.) The stem or midrib of a feather.
(c)
The pole, or tongue, of a vehicle; also, a thill.
(d)
The part of a candlestick which supports its branches. "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."
(e)
The handle or helve of certain tools, instruments, etc., as a hammer, a whip, etc.
(f)
A pole, especially a Maypole. (Obs.)
(g)
(Arch.) The body of a column; the cylindrical pillar between the capital and base. Also, the part of a chimney above the roof. Also, the spire of a steeple. (Obs. or R.)
(h)
A column, an obelisk, or other spire-shaped or columnar monument. "Bid time and nature gently spare The shaft we raise to thee."
(i)
(Weaving) A rod at the end of a heddle.
(j)
(Mach.) A solid or hollow cylinder or bar, having one or more journals on which it rests and revolves, and intended to carry one or more wheels or other revolving parts and to transmit power or motion; as, the shaft of a steam engine.
4.
(Zool.) 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.
5.
(Mining) A well-like excavation in the earth, perpendicular or nearly so, made for reaching and raising ore, for raising water, etc.
6.
A long passage for the admission or outlet of air; an air shaft.
7.
The chamber of a blast furnace.
Line shaft (Mach.), 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 (Naut.), a passage extending from the engine room to the stern, and containing the propeller shaft.
Shaft furnace (Metal.), a furnace, in the form of a chimney, which is charged at the top and tapped at the bottom.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Shaft" Quotes from Famous Books



... murmur came from the lapsing rill; The boughs of the willow in silence wept, And the aspen leaves in that sabbath slept. The valley dreamed, and the fairy lute Of the whispering reed by the brook was mute. The slender rush o'er the glassy rill, As a marble shaft, was erect and still, And no airy sylph on the mirror wave, A dimpling trace of its footstep gave. The moon shone down, but the shadows deep Of the pensile flowers, were hushed in sleep. The pulse was still in that vale of bloom, And the Spirit rose from its marshy tomb. It rose o'er the breast ...
— Poems • Sam G. Goodrich
... the tall city-units of Ghamma were sliding out of sight as the ship passed over them—shaft-like buildings that rose two or three thousand feet above the ground in clumps of three or four or six, one at each corner of the landing stages set in series between them. Each of these units stood in the middle of a wooded park some five miles square; no unit was much more or ...
— Last Enemy • Henry Beam Piper
... of the pupils sent in a design for the Nelson Testamonial, which would in all probability have been accepted, had not the decision been made in the usual preconcerted underhand manner. Following the columnar idea of Mr. Railton, our talented pupil had put forth a peculiarly appropriate idea: the shaft would have been formed by a sea-telescope of gigantic proportions, pulled out to its utmost extent. On the summit of this Nelson would have been seated, as on the maintop, smoking his pipe, from which real smoke would have issued. This ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 1, Complete • Various
... the upper booking-office. These chains thence descend to suspend two heavy counterweights, so arranged as to work in guides and to pass the ascending-room in the 12 inch interspace between the cage and the side walls of the shaft. These chains are of 1-1/8 inch bar iron, and have each been tested with a load of over 15 tons. The maximum load which can ever come as a strain upon any chain is about three tons. Two chains are attached to each counter-weight, and special attention has been paid to the attachments ...
— Scientific American Supplement, No. 530, February 27, 1886 • Various
... spoke, the colour rose on his cheek, and a shaft of sunlight falling on his curling hair, which shone with the lustre of health, made him look as comely a man as ever I did see, and a good five years younger than when he stood before us ...
— A Set of Rogues • Frank Barrett


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