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. - Chaucer. A shaft hath three principal parts, the stele [stale], the feathers, and the head. - Ascham.
	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. - Milton. Some kinds of literary pursuits . . . have been attacked with all the shafts of ridicule. - V. Knox.
	3.	(Bot.) That which resembles in some degree the stem or handle of an arrow or a spear; a long, slender part, especially when cylindrical. 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. - Ex. xxv. 31.
	4.	(Arch.) The handle or helve of certain tools, instruments, etc., as a hammer, a whip, etc. Bid time and nature gently spare The shaft we raise to thee. - Emerson.
	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.	(Weaving) A rod at the end of a heddle.
	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.

Noun	1.	shaft - a line that forms the length of an arrow pointer
	2.	shaft - an aggressive remark directed at a person like a missile and intended to have a telling effect; "his parting shot was `drop dead'"; "she threw shafts of sarcasm"; "she takes a dig at me every chance she gets" Synonyms: barb, gibe, jibe, dig, slam, shot
	3.	shaft - a long rod or pole (especially the handle of an implement or the body of a weapon like a spear or arrow)
	4.	shaft - a column of light (as from a beacon) Synonyms: light beam, ray, ray of light, shaft of light, beam of light, irradiation, beam
	5.	shaft - the main (mid) section of a long bone Synonyms: diaphysis
	6.	shaft - obscene terms for penis Synonyms: cock, pecker, peter, dick, putz, prick, tool
	7.	shaft - a long pointed rod used as a weapon Synonyms: lance, spear
	8.	shaft - a vertical passageway through a building (as for an elevator)
	9.	shaft - (architecture) upright consisting of the vertical part of a column Synonyms: scape
	10.	shaft - a vertical passage into a mine
	11.	shaft - a revolving rod that transmits power or motion Synonyms: rotating shaft
	12.	shaft - the hollow shaft of a feather Synonyms: quill, calamus
Verb	1.	shaft - equip with a shaft
	2.	shaft - defeat someone in an expectation through trickery or deceit Synonyms: chicane, chouse, jockey, cheat, screw

abysm, abyss, adit, air duct, air hole, air passage, air shaft, air tube, airway, antenna tower, arch, arrow, arrowhead, baluster, balustrade, banister, bank, barb, barbican, barbule, barrel, barrow, base, beam, belfry, bell tower, blowhole, bobtailed arrow, bolt, boundary stone, brass, breathing hole, bust, cairn, campanile, caryatid, cavity, cenotaph, chasm, chested arrow, cilium, cloth yard shaft, coal mine, colliery, colonnade, colossus, column, crater, crevasse, cromlech, cross, cup, cupola, cut, cyclolith, dado, dart, deep, depth, derrick, die, dig, diggings, dolmen, dome, duct, excavation, filament, filamentule, fire tower, flight, flue, footstalk, footstone, gibe, gleam, gold mine, grave, gravestone, gulf, handle, headstone, helve, hoarstone, hole, hollow, inscription, jab, jack, jibe, knock, lantern, lighthouse, louver, louverwork, marker, martello, martello tower, mast, mausoleum, megalith, memento, memorial, memorial arch, memorial column, memorial statue, memorial stone, menhir, minaret, mine, monolith, monument, mound, naris, necrology, newel-post, nostril, obelisk, obituary, observation tower, open cut, opencast, pagoda, pedestal, pedicel, peduncle, pencil, pier, pilaster, pile, piling, pillar, pinnacle, pit, plaque, plinth, pole, post, potshot, prize, put-down, pylon, pyramid, quarrel, quarry, queen-post, quill, ray, reed, reliquary, remembrance, ribbon, rod, rostral column, screw, screwing, shank, shoot, shrine, skyscraper, socle, spilehole, spiracle, spire, staff, stalk, stanchion, stand, standard, standpipe, steeple, stela, stem, stick, sting, stone, streak, stupa, subbase, surbase, tablet, television mast, testimonial, thrust, tomb, tombstone, tope, touchhole, tour, tower, transom, trophy, trunk, tunnel, turret, upright, vent, ventage, venthole, ventiduct, ventilating shaft, ventilator, volley, water tower, well, wind tunnel, windmill tower, workings, yawning abyss