shaft

Meaning

Verb

1. (slang, transitive) To fuck over; to cause harm to, especially through deceit or treachery.
2. (transitive) To equip with a shaft.
3. (slang, transitive) To fuck; to have sexual intercourse with.

Noun

1. (obsolete) The entire body of a long weapon, such as an arrow.
2. The long, narrow, central body of a spear, arrow, or javelin.
3. (broadly) Anything cast or thrown as a spear or javelin.
4. Any long thin object, such as the handle of a tool.
5. Any long thin object, such as the handle of a tool.
6. Any long thin object, such as the handle of a tool.
7. (literary) A beam or ray of light.
8. The main axis of a feather.
9. A vertical or inclined passage sunk into the earth as part of a mine.
10. A vertical passage housing a lift or elevator.
11. A ventilation or heating conduit.
12. Any column or pillar, particularly the body of a column between its capital and pedestal.
13. The main cylindrical part of the penis.
14. The chamber of a blast furnace.
15. A relatively small area of precipitation that an onlook can discern from the dry surrounding area.
16. A component of a loom which holds the heddles and is raised by treadles to create the shed.
17. (slang) An act of sexual intercourse.

Synonyms

pole

handle

arrow

stem

rod

axle

well

staff

axis

dart

🎯

bar

quill

pit

spar

spear

stake

mine

ray

shank

scape

helve

thill

cock

prick

pivot

cheat

peter

putz

stick

barb

stave

pecker

diaphysis

arbor

tool

irradiation

shot

spindle

haft

beam

dick

calamus

trunk

stalk

column

baton

chouse

chicane

perch

pike

Translations

Schacht

Schaft

schacht

pozo

arbre

🌳

haste

eje

Welle

👋

hampe

Stange

barra

tige

albero

🌳

mijnschacht

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ʃɑːft/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: schaft

Inherited from Old English: sċeaft

Cognate with Dutch: schacht

Cognate with German: Schaft

Cognate with Swedish: skaft

In summary

From Middle English schaft, from Old English sċeaft, from Proto-West Germanic *skaft, from Proto-Germanic *skaftaz. Cognate with Dutch schacht, German German Schaft, Swedish skaft.
In Early Modern English, shaft referred to the entire body of a long weapon, such that an arrow's “shaft” was composed of its tip, stale, and fletching. Over time, the word came to be used in place of the former stale and lost its original meaning.