a long pole forming the body of various weapons, as lances, halberds, or arrows.

something directed or barbed as in sharp attack

shafts of sarcasm.

a ray or beam

a shaft of sunlight.

a long, comparatively straight handle serving as an important or balancing part of an implement or device, as of a hammer, ax, golf club, or other implement.

Machinery . a rotating or oscillating round, straight bar for transmitting motion and torque, usually supported on bearings and carrying gears, wheels, or the like, as a propeller shaft on a ship, or a drive shaft of an engine.

a flagpole.

Architecture .

that part of a column or pier between the base and capital.

any distinct, slender, vertical masonry feature engaged in a wall or pier and usually supporting or feigning to support an arch or vault.

a monument in the form of a column, obelisk, or the like.

either of the parallel bars of wood between which the animal drawing a vehicle is hitched.

any well-like passage or vertical enclosed space, as in a building

an elevator shaft.

Mining . a vertical or sloping passageway leading to the surface.

Botany . the trunk of a tree.

Zoology . the main stem or midrib of a feather.

Also called leaf. Textiles . the harness or warp with reference to the pattern of interlacing threads in weave constructions (usually used in combination)

an eight-shaft satin.

the part of a candelabrum that supports the branches.

to push or propel with a pole

to shaft a boat through a tunnel.

Informal . to treat in a harsh, unfair, or treacherous manner.

noun

ray , bar , bloom , rod , slab , arrow , axis , axle , barb , beam , chimney , column , conduit , cylinder , diaphysis , duct , flue , handle , helve , hole , lance , missile , monolith , obelisk , pillar , pinnacle , pole , spear , spindle , spire , thill , tongue , tunnel , vent