shaft

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“
Pluck one of the least lovely--rather call it the unworthy arrow shot at the body of a dead comrade, so innocent of ill intent: yet it too has a beauty of its own, for the shaft was aflame from the fulness of a heart whose love had withstood the chill passage of the years On the night of Browning's death a new star suddenly appeared in Orion.

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Definitions (65)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (20)

  1. noun The long narrow stem or body of a spear or arrow.
  2. noun A spear or arrow.
  3. noun A projectile suggestive of a spear or arrow in appearance or configuration.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (30)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

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Examples (50)

  • Pluck one of the least lovely—rather call it the unworthy arrow shot at the body of a dead comrade, so innocent of ill intent: yet it too has a beauty of its own, for the shaft was aflame from the fulness of a heart whose love had withstood the chill passage of the years On the night of Browning's death a new star suddenly appeared in Orion. —  Life of Robert Browning
  • Mounted on either end of the shaft was a coil of many turns of wire that moved back and forth with high frequency between the poles of electromagnets, and in this way generated high-frequency alternating currents The engine was claimed by Tesla to have a very high efficiency compared to the common type of engine, which changed reciprocating to rotary motion by means of a crank shaft. —  Prodigal genius - Tesla Biography
  • He came upon a wide stair carved in the solid rock, and the sides of the shaft were adorned with esoteric symbols so ancient and horrific that King Conan's skin crawled. —  Conan -- The Stories from Weird Tales (1932-1936)
  • Once you have decided on the flex of the shaft which is affected by your personal swing speed i.e. faster swings require a stiffer shaft, and the loft required then it is a matter of fine tuning the club to your own personal requirements. —  ReadABlog.com New Blogs and RSS Feeds
  • This shaft is attached to the north wall of the Chapel of St. John-the-Divine (now used as a clergy vestry), which is perhaps the oldest part of the fabric. —  Bell's Cathedrals: Southwark Cathedral Formerly the Collegiate Church of St. Saviour, Otherwise St. Mary Overie. A Short History and Description of the Fabric, with Some Account of the College and the See
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

arrow ·  bolt ·  beam ·  cylinder ·  rod ·  wheel ·  blade ·  tunnel ·  column ·  ring ·  frame ·  pole

Used in the same contextWord Family

shaft:   shafts
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (4)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, from Old English sceaft.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (3)

  1. from Middle English shaft, schaft, scheft, scæft, an arrow, shaft, rod, pole (of a spear), from Anglo-Saxon sceaft, a shaft (of a spear), dart (= Old Saxon skaft = Dutch schacht = Middle Low German Low German schacht (ch for f, as also in D. lucht for luft, air) = Old High German scaft, Middle High German G. schaft = Icelandic skapt, properly skaft, shaft, missile, = Swedish Danish skaft, a handle, haft), with formative -t, prob. orig. past participle, literally ‘a shaven or smoothed rod or stick,’ from scafan, shave: see shave. The L. scapus, a stalk, stem, shaft, Greek σκήπων, σ κᾶπτον, σκῆπτρον, a staff, may be from the same root: see scape, scepter. Cf. shaft, shaft.
  2. In this sense not found in Middle English or Anglo-Saxon, and due to G. influence (from German miners in England); = Danish skakt, from German schacht, Middle High German schaht, shaft (of a mine), prop, a Low German form, used only in this sense (German schacht also a square rood), from Middle Low German Low German (also D.)schacht, a shaft (in a mine), a particular use, apparently in allusion to its being straight and narrow, of schacht, a shaft or rod (as of a spear): see shaft.
  3. Middle English shaft, schaft, from Anglo-Saxon sceaft, a creature, gesccaft, gescæft, gesceft, the creation, a created thing or being, a creature, decree, fate, destiny (= Old Saxon gisefti, decree of fate, = Old High German gascaft, creation, creature, fate, = Gothic (Moesogothic) gaskafts, creation; cf. Anglo-Saxon gesceap, a creation, creature, decree of fate, destiny, etc.), from ge-, a generalizing prefix (see i-), + sceapan, shape, form: see shape.
 

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/ʃæft/
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