| 释义 |
▪ I. † shaft, n.1 Obs.
Forms: 1 sceaft (also with ᵹe-), scæft, 2–3 sceft-e, saft-e, 2–3 Ormin. shafft, 2–4 scaft, 3 seft, 3–4 schafte, (scaf Cursor M.), 3–5 shafte, schaft, 4 chaft, pl. schefte, Ayenb. ssepþe, (ssefþe), 2–5 shaft.
[OE. sceaft, ᵹesceaft fem.:—OTeut. *(ga)skapti-z f. *skap- to make, create: see shape v. Cf. OS. giscaft, OHG. gascaft, giscaft fem.]
1. Creation, origin (OE. only); make, constitution, nature or species.
888K. ælfred tr. Boeth. xxx. §2 Ealle sint emnæþele, ᵹif ᵹe willað þonne fruman sceaft ᵹeþencan, & þone scippend. [c1175Lamb. Hom. 81 He is..þe king of heuene þe com in to herþe and auenede him in to his iscefte.] c1250Gen. & Ex. 349 Flesses fremiðe and safte same boðen he felten on here lichame. a1300Cursor M. 739 A littel best Þe quilk es noght vnwiliest, Þe nedder þat es of a scaft Þat mast kan bath on crok and craft. a1300E.E. Psalter cii[i]. 13 [14] Fore our schaft wele knawes he. 13..Guy W. 7168 Gret wenges he haþ wiþ to fle, His schaft to telle alle ne mow we. c1320Cast. Love 661 He moste be boren of a wommon, Þulke schaft to vnderfonge wiþ-alle Þat ouȝte to monnes kynde bi-falle. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 9386 He [Merlin] can ynow of swylke craftes, Of alle vigures he turnes þe schaftes. 1340Ayenb. 62 Þe dyeuel him sseweþ ine uele ssefþes. Ibid. 158 Me be-houeþ to zyenne..ine þe perle of þe eȝe þe ssepþe of the þinge þet is him be-uore. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xiii. 297 Feyrest of feytures of fourme and of schafte. c1400Arth. & Merlin (Linc. Inn MS.) 1579 His schaft may nomon telle, He loked as a feond of helle.
2. That which is created; a creature.
c888K. ælfred tr. Boeth. xli. §2 Ᵹif God næfde on eallum his rice nane friᵹe ᵹesceaft [11.. Bodl. MS. sceaft] under his anwalde. c1175Lamb. Hom. 59 Lauerd he is of alle scafte. a1200Moral Ode 84 He wit and waldeð alle þing and scop alle scefte [c 1200 safte]. c1200Ormin 19444 Acc hallȝhe weress sæȝhenn Godd I shafftess onnlicnesse. c1220Bestiary 456 Seftes sop ure seppande. a1225Leg. Kath. 239 Þæt schafte of mon Þæt he schop. c1250Gen. & Ex. 127 God saȝ his safte fair and good. a1300Cursor M. 23640 Wit alkin scaf [Gött. schaft] þai sal discord. 1340Ayenb. 84 He [man] wes lhord of alle ssepþes þet were onder heuene.
▪ II. shaft, n.2|ʃɑːft, -æ-|
Forms: 1 sceft, 1–3 sceaft, scæft, 3 scaft, saft, 3–4 ssafte, scheft, 4 shafth, 4–5 schafft, schafte, 4–7 schaft, shafte, 5 chaft(e, 4– shaft; rare 4 schaf, 4–5 shaffe, 4, 7 shaff, 7 shafe.
[Com. Teut. (wanting in Gothic): OE. sceaft masc. = OFris. skeft (Hettema), OS. skaft masc. (MLG., MDu., Du. schaft, schacht fem.), OHG. scaft masc., pl. scefti (MHG., mod.G. schaft masc.), ON. skapt neut. (Sw., Da. skaft):—OTeut. *skafto-, *skafti-z:—preTeut. *skapto-, -ti-s.
App. cogn. w. L. scāpus shaft, stem, shank; somewhat more doubtfully with Gr. (Dor.) σκᾶπτον staff (Ion., Att. σκηπτο- in σκηπτοῦχος staff-bearer, σκῆπτρον staff, sceptre, σκήπτειν to prop.). The Teut. word might, with regard both to form and meaning, be plausibly explained as a passive ppl. derivative from the root of shave v.; but it is doubtful whether the supposed cognates can be similarly accounted for.]
1. a. The long slender rod forming the body of a lance or spear, or of an arrow. Also of a staff, harpoon, etc.
c1000ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 143/7 Contus, spereleas sceaft. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 8658 He sset þe kyng [William Rufus] in atte breste þat neuereft he ne speke Bote þe ssafte þat was wyþoute grisliche he to brek. 1382Wyclif 1 Sam. xx. 5 The brother of Goliath Jethee, whos spere schaft was as the beme of websters. c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 504 (Morris), His sleep, his mete, his drynk is him byraft, That lene he wexe, and drye as eny schaft. 1506Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. III. 358 Item, for xij staf schaftis..xxiiij s. 1533Ibid. VI. 188 For v dosane shaftis to Jedburcht stavis coft to his grace. 1688Holme Armoury iii. xvii. (Roxb.) 113/1 Parts of a Pike. The shaft, for military service is reputed 16 or 18 foot long or there about. 1801T. Roberts Engl. Bowman 293 Shaft, an arrow: properly so called when it wants only the head. 1814Scott Ld. of Isles vi. xvi, His broken weapon's shaft survey'd The King, and careless answer made. 1836Landor Pericles & Aspasia Wks. 1846 II. 419, I can compare the Lacedemonians to nothing more fitly than to the heads of spears without the shafts. 1907C. Hill-Tout Brit. N. Amer., Far West vii. 132 Points being held to the haft of the harpoon by long plaited lines. When the fish is struck these points detach themselves from the shaft.
b. A spear or lance. Now arch.
c1000ælfric Lives Saints xii. 53 His sceaft ætstod ætforan him..swa þæt þæt spere him eode þurh ut. c1205Lay. 23907 Þe an an his ænde..and þæ oðer an his ænde..heo quehten heore scaftes [c 1275 saftes]. 13..Guy Warw. 1404 So miȝti strokes þer wer ȝiuen, Þat strong schaftes al to-driuen. c1380Sir Ferumb. 1594 So harde þay acoupede on hur scheldes þat broke buþ boþe hure schafte, & þe peces fulle on þe feldes þe hedes on þe tre by-lafte. c1430Chev. Assigne 301 And whenne þat shafte is schyuered take scharpelye another. 1483Cath. Angl. 57/2 A Chafte; vbi spere, &c. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 627 War from stubborn Myrtle Shafts receives: From Cornels Jav'lins; and the tougher Yeugh Receives the bending Figure of a Bow. 1754Gray Poesy 53 Hyperion's march they spy, and glitt'ring shafts of war. 1847Tennyson Princess v. 492 All the plain,—brand, mace, and shaft, and shield—Shock'd.
2. a. An arrow. cloth-yard shaft, see cloth-yard.
c1400Rom. Rose 1747 So at the last the shaft of tree I drough out, with the fethers three. c1480Test. Ebor. (Surtees) III. 253 Item xiiij shaffe of bolts and shoytyng shaftes, price xiiij s. Item v shaffe of rowyng shaftes iiij s. Item xlvij shaffe of childre shaftes. 1483Cath. Angl. 57/2 A Chafte; vb[i] Arowe. 1541Act 33 Hen. VIII, c. 9 §3 Euerie man, hauynge..men children..shall prouide..a bowe and two shaftes. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. i. i. 140 In my schoole dayes, when I had lost one shaft, I shot his fellow in the selfesame flight The selfesame way. 1599B. Jonson Ev. Man out of H. v. iv, Draw me the biggest shaft you haue out of the butt you wot of. 1624Bp. Hall True Peace-maker Wks. (1625) 539 Thou wounded heart [sic]..; alas, the shaft sticks still in thee, or if that bee shaken out, the head. a1711Ken Edmund Poet. Wks. 1721 II. 236 Shafts aim'd at Trees can never mount so high, As those we shoot directly tow'rds the sky. a1854H. Reed Lect. Eng. Lit. iv. (1878) 129 The air was darkened by the shafts from the hosts of English archers.
b. Proverbial phr. See bolt n.1 1 b.
1594Nashe Terrors of Nt. Wks. 1904 I. 368 To make a shaft or a bolt of this drumbling subiect of dreames, from whence I haue bin tost off and on I know not how.
†c. In various occasional scientific uses, as transl. of L. sagitta: (a) Astr. The Pole-star and its companion; (b) Anat. (see quot. 1552); (c) Geom. A versed-sine: cf. arrow n. 6. Obs.
1551Recorde Cast. Knowl. (1556) 263 The lesser Beare..is the chiefe marke whereby mariners gouerne their course in saylinge by nyghte, and namely by 2 starres in it, which many do call the shafte. 1552Udall tr. Geminus' Anat. B vij b, In the bone of the temple is a bone lyke a smal pyller, or a nedle, and therefore called the nedlelyke bone,..the quyll bone, the shafte, and the staffe bone. 1594Blundevil Exerc. ii. (1597) 49 b, A.H. is the Shaft, called in Latine Sinus versus. [See also arrow n. 6.]
†d. An ‘arrow’ on a plan or diagram showing the direction. Obs. rare.
1730A. Gordon Maffei's Amphith. 293 The Bending of the Stairs; the Knowledge of which..will be much facilitated by the Shafts which shew their Extension.
e. loosely. A missile. rhetorical.
1786tr. Beckford's Vathek (1836) 80 By my formidable art, the clouds shall pour grape-shot in the faces of the assailants, and shafts of red-hot iron on their heads. 1817Shelley Rev. Islam vi. xi, Then the shaft Of the artillery from the sea was thrown More fast and fiery. 1835W. Irving Tour Prairies 196 The trees and thickets with which it was bordered would be sufficient to turn aside any shaft of the enemy. 1838Prescott Ferd. & Isab. i. x. (1846) I. 427 Some threw away their arms; hoping by this means to facilitate their escape, while in fact it only left them more defenceless against the shafts of their enemies.
f. fig. and in figurative context.
1576Gascoigne Droome Doomes Day Wks. 1910 II. 409 To wound and wearye theyr soules, with..the shaftes of sundrye shamefull concupyscences. 1600Fairfax Tasso ii. xxxiv, Death hath exchang'd againe his shafts with loue, And Cupid thus lets borrow'd arrowes flie. 1608Hieron Help Devot. Wks. 1632 II. 760 Let his children be as chosen shafts in thy quiuer. 1667Milton P.L. iv. 763 Here Love his golden shafts imploies, he lights His constant Lamp. 1779J. Moore View Soc. Fr. I. xxx. 281 It is..to be regretted, that he allowed the shafts of his ridicule to glance upon the Christian religion. 1847Tennyson Princess ii. 444 And often came Melissa hitting all we saw with shafts Of gentle satire, kin to charity, That harm'd not. 1873Dixon Two Queens xix. vii. IV. 41 Having suffered for a whole year past from the shaft of love.
g. transf. A beam or ray (of light, etc.), a streak of lightning, etc. Chiefly poet.
13..E.E. Allit. P. A. 982 By-ȝonde þe brok fro me warde keued, Þat schyrrer þen sunne with schaftez schon. Ibid. C. 455. a 1400–50 Wars Alex. 1544 A Mitre,..Stiȝt staffull of stanes þat straȝt out bemes, As it ware shemerand shaftis of þe shire son. 1798Bloomfield Farmer's Boy, Summer 264 When midnight and the frightful Tempest come, The Farmer wakes, and sees..The angry shafts of Heaven gleam round his bed. 1799Coleridge On a Cataract 13 It embosoms the roses of dawn, It entangles the shafts of the noon. 1864Tennyson En. Ard. 588 The sunrise broken into scarlet shafts Among the palms and ferns and precipices. a1878W. C. Bryant Leg. Delawares 4 A thousand shafts of lightning pass. 1898Watts-Dunton Aylwin xiv. iv, Masses of vapour..blazing..whenever the bright shafts of morning struck them.
3. a. A pole, flagstaff; spec. † a may-pole; also † the pole on which the candle lighted at the ‘new fire’ was carried in the ceremonies of Easter Eve. Also, † a gate-post. rare.
a1000Boeth. Metr. i. 11 Fana hwearfode scir on sceafte. c1250Gen. & Ex. 3899 Moyses ðor made a wirme of bras, And heng et hege up on a saft. 141926 Pol. Poems 71 Of here banere of grace, god broken haþ þe shaft. 1428in Peacock Eng. Ch. Furniture (1866) 179 Et Thomas harpmaker pro emendacione de la schafte xj d. c1450in Aungier Syon (1840) 351 The holy water schal go before, the schafte after with ij tapers unlyght... Aftyr the sensyng of the fyre the schafte schal be lyght only. 1522Churchw. Acc. St. Giles, Reading 17 Paid for a whope of Iron to the Shafts of the churche gate iij d. 1598Stow Surv. 107 On May day..a high or long shaft (or May pole) was set vppe there,..which shaft when it was set on end..was higher then the Church steeple. a1819Rees Cycl. XXXII, Set, a term used for a pole or shaft, used to shove boats along a canal, &c. 1852–63Burn Techn. Dict. i. (ed. 4), Trabe,..pole or shaft of an ensign or colour.
†b. A guild in the parish of St. Dunstan's, Canterbury; ? named from a pole carried by the warden in procession. Also, ? the pole itself. Obs.
1486Churchw. Acc. St. Dunstan's, Canterb. in Archæol. Cant. XVI. 294 The acompte of the Schafte made be..[the two] then beyng wardeyns. 1511Ibid. 321 We haue receyud of Wyllyam Carpenter of his gyfte a gyrdyll for to bere the Schaft contynuyng for euer from Warden to Wardeyn. 1535Ibid. 98 For the expensis of the dyner, Seynt Dunstones lyght, mendyng of the Shaft, and other charges xxiij s. xj d. 1539Ibid. 102 Wardens of a Brotheryd caulyd the Shafte in the parysch of Seynt Dunstone.
4. A stem, columnar or straight portion of something.
a. The stem or trunk of a tree. Now rare.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. i. (Bodl. MS.), Þe schafte of a tree þat streccheþ fro the rote vp to þe toppe is propreliche cleped lignum. 1449Pecock Repr. i. vi. 28 Tho bowis grewen out of stockis or tronchons, and the tronchons or schaftis grewen out of the roote. 1605Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. xvii. §4. 62 If you will haue sciences growe, it is lesse matter for the shafte or bodie of the Tree, so you looke well to the takinge vp of the Rootes. 1825Cobbett Rur. Rides 98 By far the finest tree that I ever saw in my life. The stem or shaft is short. 1842Mrs. Kirkland Forest Life I. 203 They were the shafts of bee-trees, found in the forest. 1889B. Harte Cressy x. II. 113 The dim colonnade of straight pine shafts.
b. In various Natural History uses. (a) The main stem or scape of a feather. [So G. schaft.] (b) The part of a hair between the root and the point. (c) Anat. The middle portion of a long bone. (d) Ent. The scape of an antenna or of a halter. † (e) Bot. = style (1787 Withering Brit. Pl. ed. 2, passim).
(a)1748Phil. Trans. XLV. 161 The Shafts of the Tail Feathers are very stiff. 1826Stephens in Shaw Gen. Zool. XIV. i. 177 The white on the shafts of the feathers is broader. 1886P. L. Sclater Catal. Birds Brit. Mus. XI. 345 Feathers of head and neck lanceolate and with shining shafts.
(b)1851Carpenter Man. Phys. (ed. 2) 200 The constituent fibres of the shaft are marked out by delicate longitudinal striæ, which may be traced in vertical sections of the hair. 1876Duhring Dis. Skin 33 In considering the hair we distinguish two portions,—the shaft, and the root.
(c)1835–6Todd's Cycl. Anat. I. 431/1 The long bones..are never exactly cylindrical, being always contracted in the middle or shaft, and enlarged at each end. 1858Holden Hum. Osteol. (1878) 165 The ‘shafts’ are slightly concave towards the palm, to form the hollow of the hand.
c. The part of a candlestick which supports the branches.
1388Wyclif Exod. xxv. 31 Thou schalt make a candil⁓stike..and thou schalt make the schaft [1382 staf, 1535 Coverdale, 1611 shaft] therof, and ȝerdis, cuppis, and litle rundelis, and lilies comynge forth therof. Ibid. 33 Sixe ȝerdis, that schulen be brouȝt forth of the schaft. a1586Cartwright in Answ. to Cartwright 88 The shaft..of the candlesticke.
†d. ‘The Spire of a Church-Steeple’ (Phillips 1706). [Cf. F. flèche.] Obs.
c1450Chron. London (Kingsford 1905) 156 The Steple of Seynt Pawlis chirche was sette on fire aboute the medyll of the Shafte in the tymbir. 1581Churchw. Acc. Dunmow (MS.) fol. 49 In repayringe the steple in stone worke xxxixli. iiis. id. Item, repayringe the shafte and tymber therof, vli. xvis. ixd. 1612Peacham Gentl. Exerc. i. vi. 19 Practise to draw small and easie things,..as a cherry with the leafe, the shaft of a steeple [etc.]. a1700Evelyn Diary 20 Aug. 1654, Famous is the Steeple [at Grantham] for the exceeding height of the shaft, which is of stone.
e. Of a chimney, a blast-furnace: (see quots. and chimney-shaft s.v. chimney 11).
c1450Nominale (Harl. MS. 1002) 146 b, Caminus, a chymney. Epicaustorium, þe chaft þer-of. a1548in J. Bayley Tower Lond. (1821) i. App. p. xxv, To fynyshe x. shaftes upon x. chymneys. 1662Gerbier Brief Disc. (1665) 10 Neither are those high Shafts of Chimnies real Ornaments to a Building. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), Shaft,..the Tunnel of a Chimney. 1836–50Parker Gloss. Archit. (ed. 5) s.v., The part of a chimney-stack between the base and cornice is called the shaft. 1855Franke Beil's Technol. Dict. II. 457/2 Shaft of a blast-furnace (the internal cavity of the furnace), der Schacht; Cuve, cheminée.
f. Arch. The body of a column or pillar between the base and the capital. Also the ‘die’ of a parapet. See also quot. 1842.
1483Cath. Angl. 332/1 A schafte of a pylar, stilus. 1598R. Haydocke tr. Lomazzo i. xxiv. 86 The shaft or trunke of the columne is to be diminished a fourth parte at the toppe. 1624Wotton Archit. 31 They [the Columns] are all Diminished or Contracted..from one third part of the whole Shaft vpwards. 1756–7Keysler's Trav. (1760) II. 461 The pedestal [of this pillar] consists of one stone, the base of eight, the torus of one, the shaft of twenty-three, and the capital of one. 1823P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 310 The shaft or die, which is the part immediately above the plinth. 1842Gwilt Archit. Gloss., Shaft of a King Post, the part between the joggles. 1849Freeman Archit. 16 Then gradually bringing within its power the details of shaft and capital.
g. The upright part of a cross; esp. the part between the arms and the base.
1781Ledwich in Vallancey Collect. de Rebus Hibern. II. 446 The arms were broken, but the shaft [of the market cross of Kilkenny] remained adorned with beautiful figures. 1810Scott Lady of L. iii. viii, A slender crosslet form'd with care,..The shaft and limbs were rods of yew. 1836–50Parker Gloss. Archit. (ed. 5) s.v. Cross, In some instances they had small niches..round the top of the shaft below the cross. 1870F. R. Wilson Ch. Lindisf. 90 The limbs and a portion of the shaft of a Saxon cross were found. a1887Jefferies Field & Hedgerow (1889) 279 One of them has retained its top perfect, and really is a cross, not a shaft only.
h. The stem or long straight handle of a tool, etc.; the shank of an anchor; the stem of a pipe; † the stalk or foot of a goblet or wine-glass.
1530Palsgr. 266/1 Shafte of any edged tole, manche. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1780), Shank, the beam or shaft of an anchor. a1837J. Hogg Tales & Sk. I. 297, I then took out my brandy bottle, and a small crystal glass without the shaft, that I carried in my pocket. 1841Catlin N. Amer. Ind. xxix. (1844) I. 235 The shafts or stems of these pipes. 1851Greenwell Coal-trade Terms, Northumb. & Durh. 46 Shaft,..the handle of a pick, hack, shovel, or maul. 1855Franke Beil's Technol. Dict. II. 457/2 Shaft of a forge hammer (the helve or handle of the hammer), der Helm, Stiel; Manche. 1897Encycl. Sport I. 473/1 (Golf), Shaft, the handle of the club.
i. † (a) Of a cannon: = chase n.3 2. (b) ‘The forward, straight part of a gun-stock’ (Knight Dict. Mech. 1875).
1626Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 32 Her shaft or chase, her trunnions.
5. a. Arch. A slender column, esp. one of ‘the small columns which are clustered round pillars, or used in the jambs of doors or windows, in arcades and various other situations’ (Parker Gloss. Archit.).
1835R. Willis Archit. Mid. Ages ii. 27 But the compound archway did not long remain in this simple form, its component archways were early decorated in various ways with shafts and mouldings. 1838Lytton Leila i. ii, The ceiling of cedar-wood..was supported by slender shafts, of the whitest alabaster. 1873Dixon Two Queens i. i. I. 8 Images of the goddess on her jasper shaft. 1878McVittie Christ Ch. Cathedral 67 The inside moulded jambs are decorated with six short limestone shafts.
b. U.S. An obelisk or column erected as a memorial.
1847Emerson Poems, Hymn Wks. (Bohn) I. 494 Spirit, that made those heroes dare To die, and leave their children free, Bid Time and Nature gently spare The shaft we raise to them and thee. 1873B. Harte Washington in N. Jersey in Fiddletown, etc. 93 The gray shaft that commemorated the Morristown dead of the last civil war. 1878Joaquin Miller Songs of Italy 49 The whole country round vaunts our deed and the town Raised that shaft on the spot.
†6. A kind of balance: = auncel, pounder (app. orig. auncel's shaft).
1429,1439[see pounder n.1]. 1502[see auncel].
7. a. One of the long bars, between a pair of which a horse is harnessed to a vehicle; a thill. Also (? U.S.) ‘the pole of a carriage, also called tongue or neap’ (Webster 1828–32).
1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 325 The shafts or beam of Gordius his cart. 1725Pope Odyss. xv. 208 The bounding shafts upon the harness play. a1764Lloyd Cobbler of Cripplegate's Let. 124 The racer stumbles in the shaft, And shews he was not meant for draft. 1794W. Felton Carriages (1801) I. 61 The Shafts of a Carriage are the side framings, by which it is supported by the horse. 1894K. Grahame Pagan P. 77, I found him smoking his vesper pipe on the shaft of his cart.
b. Either of the two side-pieces of a ladder which support the rungs or steps.
1888Stevenson Across the Plains (1892) 197 The weedy spokes and shafts of the ladder.
c. (See quot.)
1825J. Nicholson Oper. Mech. 630 The sides of this table [for casting sheet lead]..are guarded by a frame or edging of wood, 3 inches thick, and 4 or 5 inches higher than the interior surface, called the shafts. Ibid. 631 So that its ends, which are notched.., may ride upon the shafts.
8. Mech. A long cylindrical rotating rod upon which are fixed the parts for the transmission of motive power in a machine; also, a separable portion of a line of shafting.
Also with qualifying word indicating a specific kind of shaft, as crank, paddle, propeller, screw shaft, countershaft, etc.: see those words.
1688Holme Armoury iii. 340/2 The Shaft [of a Wind-Mill], that on which the Sail Rods are set. 1764Croker, etc. Dict. Arts s.v. Mill, The undershot-wheel, upon whose shaft is fixed a spur or cog-wheel. 1814, etc. [see journal n. 10]. 1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 43 In forming couplings, great care should be taken to make them fit, so that the coupled shaft may move as though of the same piece with the driving shaft. 1841R. Willis Princ. Mechanism 44 note, Axis is the general and scientific word, shaft the millwright's general term, and spindle his term for smaller shafts. 1873J. Richards Wood-working Factories 4 The last shaft, or the one farthest from the engine, can be driven at a higher speed than the other shafts to suit joiners' machines on an upper floor. 1887D. A. Low Machine Draw. (1892) 30, Fig. 25, which represents a brake shaft carrier of a locomotive tender.
9. Weaving. Each of a pair of long laths between which the heddles are stretched; also applied to the pair taken together. Also in parasynthetic compounds with prefixed numeral, as four-shaft, ten-shaft adjs., designating makes of cloth.
Although no early examples have been found, the sense is certainly old; the G. schaft and Du. schacht are similarly used. Cf. ‘thre-schaptyd cloth, triplex’ (Promp. Parv., c 1440): see three III. 2.
[1801see lam n.2] 1839Ure Dict. Arts, etc. 1230 The heddles being stretched between two shafts of wood, all the heddles connected by the same shafts are called a leaf. 1878Barlow Weaving 173 With four shafts and twenty pairs of leashes..the effect that may be produced will be noticed at ABCDE and F. Ibid., At D the leashes are raised, and the shafts also. a1904W. Thornton in Eng. Dial. Dict. s.v., [Obs. in W. Yorksh.] Long thin flat rods of wood, upon which the ‘gems’ or ‘healds’ were stretched. The stretching was effected by a ‘top’ and ‘bodom’ shaft, and the whole was also termed a ‘shaft’, when describing the pattern or make of cloth to be produced, as ‘four shaft’, ‘ten shaft’, &c.
†b. Sc. A kind of woollen cloth. Obs.[Prob. generalized from designations like four-shaft, ten-shaft, etc.: see above.] 1797Statist. Acc. Scot., Aberd. XIX. 208 Cloths manufactured from the above wool,..three quarters to yard broad seys, sarges, shafts, plaidings, baizes, linseywoolseys, jemmies, and stripped apron stuffs.
10. In various slang uses.
a. The penis. Also † shaft of delight.
[1719T. D'Urfey Wit & Mirth IV. 72 It is a Shaft of Cupid's cut, 'Twill serve to Rove, to Prick, to Butt.] 1772G. A. Stevens Songs, Comic, & Satyrical 11 For Cupid's Pantheon, the Shaft of Delight Must spring from the Masculine Base. 1971B. W. Aldiss Soldier Erect 45 It was never enough merely to lower your trousers—they had to come off,..so that you could crouch there naked but for your shirt, frantically rubbing your shaft.
b. A human leg. U.S.
1935A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 103/2 Shaft, a woman's leg. 1939C. Morley Kitty Foyle 95 If anyone showed a good shaft Pop would wink at me.
c. U.S. An act or instance of unfair or harsh treatment; slighting, rejection, ‘the push’; esp. in to give or get the shaft.
1959Amer. Speech XXXIV. 155 A girl or boy who makes a play for another's date is snaking... If he succeeds, the loser gets the shaft (sometimes with barbs), the purple shaft, or the maroon harpoon, depending upon the degree of injury to his pride. 1960Wentworth & Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang 461/1 Shaft.., an act or an instance of being taken advantage of, unfairly treated, deceived, tricked, cheated, or victimized; a raw deal. Usu. in ‘to get the (or a) shaft’. Fig., the image is the taboo one of the final insult, having someone insert something, as a barbed shaft, up one's rectum. 1964Mad Mag. July 14 Looks like somebody gave him the shaft! 1977Amer. Speech 1975 L. 65 She gave him the shaft after he broke their date last weekend. 1979Mod. Photography Dec. 86/2, I would give more of my business to Minolta but for the company's uncooperative, anti⁓consumer thinking. Doubtless there are many such as myself who have gotten the shaft.
11. attrib. and Comb.
a. In sense 2 (arrow, etc.), as shaft-arm, † shaft-end, shaft-hand, shaft-head, shaft-maker; shaft-armed, shaft-like, shaft-straight, shaft-strong adjs.; † shaft-wise adv., ? in cylindrical form.
1801T. Roberts Engl. Bowman 293 *Shaft-arm, Shaft-hand, the arm, the hand, employed in drawing the arrow.
1790Cowper Iliad i. 18 His hands charged with the wreath And golden sceptre or the God *shaft-arm'd.
1545R. Ascham Toxoph. ii. Wks. (1904) 116 Yf I should shoote at a line and not at the marke, I woulde alwayes loke at my *shaft ende.
1801*Shaft-hand [see shaft-arm supra].
1545R. Ascham Toxoph. ii. Wks. (1904) 115 To looke at your *shafte hede at the lowse, is the greatest helpe to kepe a lengthe that can be. 1821Byron Sardan. iv. i. 90 A huge quiver rose With shaft-heads feather'd from the eagle's wing.
15..J. Bryan Ps. cxxvii. 7 in Farr S.P. Eliz. II. 335 Straight, *shaft-like sprowts in shape and mind. 1899R. B. Sharpe in Daily News 21 Feb. 6/2 A long shaft-like plume.
1904Windle Preh. Age Eng. iv. 80 Here the object was..to shape off the roughnesses of a stick, so as to convert it into an arrow-shaft—for which reason this kind of scraper is sometimes called a ‘*shaft-maker’.
1849C. Brontë Shirley II. v. 127 Her *shaft-straight carriage and lightsome step.
1519W. Horman Vulg. 105 b, All preciouse stonys may be made *shaft wyse, saue pearlys. Omnes gemmæ teretes fieri possunt, extra vnum vnionem.
b. In sense 5 a (Arch.), as shaft-architecture, shaft-cap, shaft-ring.
1851Ruskin Stones Ven. I. viii. §xxiii, The earliest and grandest shaft architecture which we know, that of Egypt. 1882Archæol. Cant. XIV. 364 The segmental arch of its head springs not from shaft-caps but from vertical stilts. 1909Century Dict. Suppl., Shaft-ring, an annular band..which seems to surround a shaft of a column. It is often the wrought edge of a stone plate which separates two stones that make up a shaft, the inclosing ring being an appearance only.
c. In sense 4 h (handle), as shaft-hole Archæol., the hole in an axe-head or similar implement for the insertion of the haft or handle.
1852–63Burn Techn. Dict. ii. (ed. 4), Shaft prop, servante. Ibid., Shaft stay, cravate. 1865Lubbock Preh. Times iii. (1878) 62 The British lance-heads frequently have loops at the side of the shaft-hole,..which is never the case with Danish specimens. 1894J. Macintosh Ayrsh. Nt.'s Entert. 201 A stone axe..having a shaft-hole one inch in width. 1928[see core-casting s.v. core n.1 16]. 1958W. Willetts Chinese Art I. ii. 75 (heading) Objects derived from the shaft-hole adze. 1971Listener 7 Jan. 14/1 (caption) Copper shaft-hole tools of the Balkan late neolithic.
d. In sense 7 a (thill of a carriage, etc.): as shaft-bar, shaft-bender, shaft-bolt, shaft-jack, shaft-loop, shaft-man, shaft-ring, shaft tug; shaft-horse, the horse which goes in the shafts.
1802C. James Milit. Dict., *Shaft-bars, are two pieces of wood to fasten the hind ends of the shafts together, into which they are pinned with wooden pins.
1881Instr. Census Clerks (1885) 56 Coach making..*Shaft Bender.
1852–63Burn Techn. Dict. ii. (ed. 4), *Shaft-bolt, boulon de limoniėre.
1769Wesley Jrnl. 28 July, The *shaft-horse..boggled and turned short. 1886Ruskin Præterita I. vi. 182 The four horses were driven by one postillion riding the shaft horse.
1875Knight Dict. Mech., *Shaft-jack, (Vehicle) an iron attaching the shafts to the axle.
Ibid., *Shaft-loop, (Harness) the ring of leather suspended from the gig-saddle to hold the thill or shaft.
1881Instr. Census Clerks (1885) 56 Coach making..*Shaftman.
1802C. James Milit. Dict., Rings, in artillery, are of various uses such as, the *shaft-rings to fasten the harness of the shaft-horse by means of a pin.
1856‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Rural Sports iii. iii. iv. 543 A buckle and strong loop on each side, called the *Shaft Tug, by which the shaft is supported.
e. Ornith. (sense 4 b), as shaft-mark, shaft-spot, shaft-streak, shaft-stripe; shaft-tailed bunting, Latham's name for one of the buntings of the genus Emberiza; shaft-tailed whidah, widow bird, a dark-coloured African weaver-bird, Vidua regia, having long tail-feathers with bare shafts.
1884J. H. Gurney Diurnal Birds Prey 157 The dark *shaft-marks much narrower than in the female [Kestrel].
1888P. L. Sclater Argentine Ornith. I. 164 Above plumbeous, with slight darker *shaft-spots.
1874R. B. Sharpe Catal. Accipitres B. Mus. 438 Crown rufous, with blackish *shaft-streaks.
1867P. L. Sclater & Salvin Exotic Ornith. 71 There are linear elongated *shaft-stripes on the head and on portions of the under plumage.
1783Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds II. i. 183 *Shaft-tailed Bunting.
1881F. & C. G. Oates Matabele Land & Victoria Falls facing p. 220 (caption) *Shaft-tailed Whydah Bird. 1900A. C. Stark Birds S. Afr. I. 148 Shaft-tailed Widow Bird... The four central, elongated tail-feathers are webbed at their ends.., the rest of them consists of bare shaft. 1948C. D. Priest Eggs of Birds breeding S. Afr. 135 Shaft-tailed Whydah..undoubtedly parasitic. 1974Sci. Amer. Oct. 96/2 The shaft-tailed widow bird of South Africa..mimics the repertory of its host, the violet-eared waxbill.
f. In sense 8 (axle or revolving bar), as shaft-bearing, shaft-boss, shaft-bracket, shaft-coupling, shaft-drive (so shaft-driven), shaft-eye, shaft-gearing, shaft-governor, shaft-head, shaft-passage, etc.; shaft-alley Naut. (see quot. 1884); also used attrib. to designate unofficial or unreliable information or its source, attributed to gossip in shaft-alley; shaft horsepower, brake horsepower, spec. power delivered to a propeller shaft or the shaft of a turbine; shaft turbine (see quot. 1958).
1884Naval Encycl. 732/1 *Shaft-alley, a passage extending from the engine-room to the stern..in which is contained the propeller-shaft and its bearings. 1922L. Hisey Sea Grist 155 It was rumored by shaft alley wireless that we would reach Antwerp, Belgium, in two days. 1941R. G. M. Ehlers Diary of Ship's Surgeon (1944) 67 A ‘shaft alley’ rumor brought word that all ships had been ordered out of Hong Kong. 1945Sun (Baltimore) 30 Aug. 7–0/5 It's the job of these six men to go down to the nethermost portion of this ship in ‘Shaft Alley’, where the big propeller shafts whirl.
1875Knight Dict. Mech., *Shaft-bearing.
1863Barry Dockyard Econ. 236 This is 42 feet in length, and, with its sole and *shaft-boss, weighs 40 tons.
1894W. H. White Man. Naval Archit. (ed. 3) 415 (Cent. Suppl.), Stems, sternposts, *shaft-brackets, rudders, etc., are now commonly made of cast steel instead of forged iron or steel.
1906Westm. Gaz. 26 June 4/1 As regards transmission, fourteen of the cars are employing chains, as against twenty relying on *shaft drive.
1906Daily Chron. 14 Nov. 9/3 These cars are *shaft-driven.
1835Ure Philos. Manuf. 34 The recent innovations in..adjusting the movements of the system of *shaft-geering.
1898Engineering Mag. XVI. 146/2 The Design and Setting of *Shaft Governors.
1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 130 A gudgeon from the end of each cylinder runs into an iron fastened to the *shaft-head.
1908A. E. Tompkins Marine Engin. (ed. 3) v. 61 The torsion-meter is used to measure this angular twist between two points of a shaft, and from this angle the *shaft horse-power is calculated. 1974Petroleum Rev. XXVIII. 490/1 The high shaft horsepower was the conditioning factor for this proportion of pilot fuel.
1874Thearle Naval Archit. 115 The bulkheads of the *shaft passages are sometimes made watertight.
1958Chambers's Techn. Dict. Add. 1013/1 *Shaft turbine, any gas turbine aero-engine wherein the major part of the energy in the combustion gases is extracted by a turbine and delivered, through appropriate gearing, to a shaft. 1970Lambermont & Pirie Helicopters & Autogyros of World (ed. 2) 147 It had two shaft-turbine engines mounted on the cabin top instead of two Pratt and Whitney piston engines.
g. Weaving (sense 9), as shaft harness, shaft monture.
1878Barlow Weaving 168 The second [contrivance] is generally used in weaving the richest silks now made, and is termed the split harness, or ‘shaft monture’. Ibid. 170 The above contrivance entirely dispenses with a separate set of treadles to work the shaft harness.
h. shaft-furnace, ‘a high furnace, charged at the top and tapped at the bottom’ (Raymond Mining Gloss. 1881).
1874Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 393 Those shaft-furnaces which use charcoal as fuel.
[4.] [h.] After ‘pipe’ add: the pole of a paddle, to which the blade is attached (cf. loom n.1 5).
1893J. D. Hayward Canoeing iii. 27 The paddle generally used with the paddling..canoe, is that known as the double blade; it consists of a shaft with a blade at each end. 1986Practical Woodworking 349/1 It is normal for the paddle blades to be fixed at right angles to each other on the shaft so the upper blade passes through the air in a ‘feathered’ mode.
▪ III. shaft, n.3|ʃɑːft, -æ-|
Also 5 shafte.
[Corresponds in sense to MHG. schaht, mod.G. schacht masc., which is prob. a. LG. schacht (also Du.) of the same meaning, usually regarded as a specific application of schacht = shaft n.2, the primitive notion being that of something cylindrical. It is possible, however, that the type *skafto- represented by LG. schacht, Eng. shaft ‘pit-hole’, may be a separate formation on the Teut. root *skaƀ- of shave v., in its original sense to dig (cf. Gr. σκάπτειν). On either of these views, it is doubtful whether shaft ‘pit-hole’ goes back to OE. (though not recorded before the 15th c.), or was introduced into England by foreign miners.
Some scholars still adhere to the view of Grimm, that the HG. schacht (and LG. schacht in this sense) represent a Teut. type *skaχto-z. On this supposition the Eng. word would necessarily be a loan word from the continent. Grimm's hypothesis is formally possible, but leaves the ultimate etymology obscure, as the suggested connexion with the root *skak- shake v. is semasiologically improbable.]
1. A vertical or slightly inclined well-like excavation made in mining, tunnelling, etc., as a means of access to underground workings, for hoisting out materials, testing the subsoil, ventilation, etc.
For air-shaft, engine-shaft, pumping-shaft, etc. see those words.
1433–4Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 711 Pro factura unius shaft infra campum de Heworth pro carbonibus ibidem lucrandis, 20s. 1443Ibid. 713 Cum thirlyng unius shafte. 1602Carew Surv. Cornw. 8 b, There they sincke a Shaft, or pit of fiue or sixe foote in length [etc.]. 1665Phil. Trans. I. 80 By letting down shafts from the day (as Miners speak). 1733Arbuthnot Ess. Effects Air ii. 34 Suppose a Tube, or, as the Miners call it, a Shaft were sunk from the Surface of the Earth to the Centre. 1815Clanny in Thomson's Ann. Philos. (1816) VII. 369 In this district there are several coal-mines that have only one shaft, which serves the double purpose of ventilation and working. 1843Penny Cycl. XXV. 369/2 Shafts of at least four feet diameter should be sunk along the line of the tunnel. 1868Morris Earthly Par., Rhodope 14 Nor as yet had any one Sunk shaft in hill-side there, or dried the stream To see if 'neath its sand gold specks might gleam. 1888F. Hume Mme. Midas i. i, She..sank a shaft in the place indicated.
2. Mil. Mining. (See quot. 1876.)
1834J. S. Macaulay Field Fortif. (1847) 183 The top frame of the shaft is then let into the ground. Ibid. 184 In unfavourable soil the whole shaft must be lined with sheeting. 1876Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Dict. (ed. 3), Shaft, in military mining is the perpendicular passage sunk from the surface of the ground to the required depth, from which the branches of the mine diverge, termed ‘galleries’... Shafts and galleries are lined with timber to prevent the soil from breaking in.
3. transf. Applied to other well-like excavations, or passages.
1820Belzoni Egypt & Nubia ii. 270 Where the granite work finishes at the end of this passage [in the 2nd Pyramid], there is a perpendicular shaft of fifteen feet. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. ii. 18 Numerous shafts, the forsaken passages of ancient ‘moulins’. 1861F. Nightingale Nursing (ed. 2) 28 It often happens that the sick room is made a ventilating shaft for the rest of the house. 1912World 25 June 1005/2 The second floor [of the burning house] seemed a furnace, and the shaft of the lift acted as a chimney.
4. attrib. and Comb.
a. simple attrib., as shaft ladder, shaft mouth, shaft work, etc.; shaft sinking vbl. n. Also objective, as shaft-sinker.
1844F. W. Simms (title) Practical tunnelling, explaining in detail..shaft sinking, and heading driving. 1862Times 21 Jan., Mr. Coulson..has had vast experience in shaft work. c1868C. Warren Recov. Jerus. (1871) 128 The shaft mouth is on the south side of the Sanctuary wall. 1909Chamb. Jrnl. Apr. 239 They started to descend the shaft-ladders. 1922D. H. Lawrence Aaron's Rod vii. 70 His father had been a shaft-sinker.
b. Comb.: shaft-drill, ‘a rotary drilling-machine, armed with diamond points, for boring vertical shafts’ (Knight Dict. Mech. 1875); shaft-grave Archæol., applied to ancient interments in a ‘shaft’; shaft-house, ‘the heavy framework for the pulleys and landing-place at the top of a mining shaft, some-times enclosed for protection from the weather’ (Funk's Stand. Dict. 1895); shaftman, a man employed to keep the shaft in repair (Northumbld. Gloss.); also, a workman employed to sink shafts (cf. shaftsman); shaft pillar Mining, a body of coal or rock unworked in order to provide support for an adjacent shaft; shaft-rent (see quot.); shaft-riding, ascending by means of a lift or cage in a shaft; shaft-tackle = poppet-head 2; shaft tomb = shaft-grave.
1910D. G. Hogarth in Encycl. Brit. I. 248/1 The *shaft graves in the Mycenae circle are also a late type.
1872Statistics of Mines & Mining 1870 (U.S. Treasury Dept.) 344 The quartz is brought from the mine, unless the mill is in or near the *shaft-house, in wagons. 1874Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 332, I cannot see the need or use of a shaft-house of such a shape and only 10 feet in diameter.
1881Instr. Census Clerks (1885) 84 Tin miner..*Shaftman. Ibid. 85 Lead miner..shaftman. 1893W. C. Borlase Age Saints Introd. 21 Many a first-rate Cornish miner—a ‘shaftman’, that is to say—belongs to it [the German type].
1855G. C. Greenwell Pract. Treat. Mine Engin. vi. 155 The situation of coal pits varies so much, together with the position of the seams of coal, dykes and slips, that no rule can be laid down for the form of the pillars of coal, left near the shaft, which are called the *shaft pillars. 1929I. C. F. Statham Winning & Working xxx. 499 This subsidence was not..wholly due to the removal of the shaft pillar, but was partly accounted for by crushing of the shaft pillar in an upper seam. 1977Irish Press 29 Sept. 8/4 A third semipermanent pillar, known as the shaft pillar, cuts across the orebody from north to south.
1849Greenwell Coal-trade Terms, Northumb. & Durham (1851) 42 *Shaft rent, for the privilege of drawing up the shaft the coal worked from another royalty by outstroke.
1887P. McNeill Blawearie 57 In those days the miners who worked the coalfields on the estate of Blawearie were but rarely allowed to indulge in the luxury of ‘*shaft riding’.
1874J. H. Collins Metal Mining 81 The cost of preparing and fixing this *shaft-tackle should not exceed 25s. or 30s. for timber, ironwork, and labour.
1895W. Leaf Iliad I. Introd. 15 The ‘*shaft tombs’ discovered by Dr. Schliemann in the Acropolis of Mykenai.
▪ IV. † shaft, v.1 Obs. rare—1.
[Of obscure origin.]
intr. Of the sun: ? To set.
13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1467 He rechated, & r[ode] þurȝ ronez ful þyk, Suande þis wy[ld]e swyn til þe sunne schafted.
▪ V. shaft, v.2|ʃɑːft, -æ-|
[f. shaft n.2]
1. trans. To fit (an arrow-head, a weapon or tool) with a shaft.
1611Florio, Alberáre,..Also to shaft or stave any weapon as a holbard. a1775Hobie Noble xvi. in Child Ballads IV. 3/1 Gar warn the bows o' Hartlie-burn See they shaft their arrows on the wa! 1853G. J. Cayley Las Alforjas II. 256 Many of our modern authors live by..new shafting and feathering old arrow heads.
2. to shaft out: to shoot as an arrow or shaft.
1862Thornbury Turner II. 88 There was the storm rolling..and shafting out its lightning over the Yorkshire hills.
3. To propel (a barge, etc.) with a pole.
1869A. Davis Velocipede 5 Like unto the method of punting or shafting vessels. 1906Daily Chron. 19 Feb. 10/5 Sometimes a boat is ‘shafted’ through [a tunnel] with a pole.
4. To treat unfairly or harshly; to cheat, deceive; to take advantage of; to slight, reject. slang (orig. and chiefly N. Amer.).
1959Amer. Speech XXXIV. 155 A raw deal from any other source may also be referred to in this way; for example, one may be shafted or jabbed by the opposite sex, a professor, a policeman, parents, or anyone else for any real or imagined injury. 1966‘E. Lathen’ Murder makes Wheels go Round xiii. 108 He was a menace to Wahl... He'd railroaded Orin Dunn into jail... He was shafting Buck Holsinger! 1970Deb. Senate Canada 1 June 7551/2 As I have told my constituents in Hamilton, Ontario, which seems to have been continually shafted by this government. 1971B. Malamud Tenants 19 Rent control..is an immoral situation. The innocent landlord gets shafted. 1976M. Machlin Pipeline xxxv. 397, I think how they're shafting us with this whole deal.
5. = fuck v. 1 trans. coarse slang.
1970G. Lord Marshmallow Pie xxi. 185 There was this young girl among them, not even sixteen yet..like as not being shafted by every dirty long-haired crud in town. 1971B. W. Aldiss Soldier Erect 82 How sinful he looked, squatting there by the water while his wife was being shafted by some dirty big Mendip only a few feet away! 1971J. Wainwright Last Buccaneer ii. 228 He was Jimmy Needler—that's all{ddd}and the rest of the world could go shaft itself.
Hence ˈshafting vbl. n.
1971B. W. Aldiss Soldier Erect 124 Hello there, gran! What do you do? Gobble? Where are the birds? We want three as are fit enough to stand a gude shafting. 1972J. Wainwright Requiem for Loser iii. 50 What a monumental shafting he'd deliver to some lucky bint. 1973Farm & Country 20 Nov. 23/3 Hugh Blaine charged that farmers ‘suffered a shafting at the hands of feed dealers last year’. 1975R. H. Rimmer Premar Experiments i. 94 After double-dealing with his own people and selling them to the slavers, some slaver gave the king and his family a shafting and enslaved them too. |
