# shaft

> English word · Noun · IPA /ʃɑːft/ · frequency rank #8,347

## Definitions
1. The entire body of a long weapon, such as an arrow.
2. The long, narrow, central body of a spear, arrow, or javelin.
3. 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. 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. An act of sexual intercourse.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **shit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaft-vs-shit)
- **shot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaft-vs-shot)
- **shut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaft-vs-shut)
- **soft** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaft-vs-soft)
- **shaw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaft-vs-shaw)
- **stat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaft-vs-stat)
- **shah** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaft-vs-shah)
- **SWAT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaft-vs-swat)
- **sham** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaft-vs-sham)
- **spat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaft-vs-spat)
- **shan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaft-vs-shan)
- **shay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaft-vs-shay)
- **shag** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaft-vs-shag)
- **sift** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaft-vs-sift)
- **shat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaft-vs-shat)
- **start** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaft-vs-start)
- **short** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaft-vs-short)
- **share** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaft-vs-share)
- **staff** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaft-vs-staff)
- **shall** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaft-vs-shall)

## Common misspellings (8)
`hsaft`, `sahft`, `shafft`, `shaftt`, `shatf`, `shfat`, `shhaft`, `sshaft`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/shaft