shafts

Noun

shaft (plural shafts)

1. (obsolete) The entire body of a long weapon, such as an arrow.
   • A shaft hath three principal parts, the stele, the feathers, and the head.1545, Roger Ascham, Toxophilus
2. The long, narrow, central body of a spear, arrow, or javelin.
   • Her hand slipped off the javelin's shaft towards the spearpoint and that's why her score was lowered.

   Synonyms:

   stale

3. (broadly) Anything cast or thrown as a spear or javelin.
   • […]and the Thunder, / Wing'd with red Lightning and impetuous rage, / Perhaps hath ſpent his ſhafts […]1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC
4. One of the poles between which a draught animal is harnessed to a vehicle.
   • While Kitto chatted to William, Jessamy looked with interest at the dog cart. It had a pair of high wooden wheels with two seats back to back above. Between the shafts the bay mare tossed her head and fidgeted on the cobbles.1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 57

   Synonyms:

   pole, carriage pole

5. A rotating machine element used to transmit power; a driveshaft
   • Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo, meaning vortex, and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work.2013 July-August, Lee S. Langston, “The Adaptable Gas Turbine”, in American Scientist
6. The long narrow body of a lacrosse stick.
   • Sarah, if you wear gloves your hands might not slip on your shaft and you can up your game, girl!

See all 20 meanings of shaft