shaft
shaft
- n a line that forms the length of an arrow pointer
- n an aggressive remark directed at a person like a missile and intended to have a telling effect
she threw shafts of sarcasm - n a long rod or pole (especially the handle of an implement or the body of a weapon like a spear or arrow)
- n a column of light (as from a beacon)
- n the main (mid) section of a long bone
- n obscene terms for penis
- n a long pointed rod used as a tool or weapon
- n a vertical passageway through a building (as for an elevator)
- n (architecture) upright consisting of the vertical part of a column
- n a long vertical passage sunk into the earth, as for a mine or tunnel
- n a revolving rod that transmits power or motion
- n the hollow spine of a feather
- v equip with a shaft
- v defeat someone through trickery or deceit
- Conventional oil drilling is vertical: drill ers bore a narrow shaft down through the layer of sedimentary rock in which the oil is stored.
- After a very tight crawl into a long, narrow passage, we reached the brink of a shaft in the roof of the cave, then climbed down.
- The proposal to sink a deep shaft ten or twelve miles into the crust of the earth is not new.