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Definitions

shaft

[shaft, shahft] / ʃæft, ʃɑft /
NOUN
rod
Synonyms


NOUN
weapon
Synonyms
NOUN
ray of light
Synonyms




Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Their theory was that the descending column of water acted somewhat like a syringe, pushing air through the shaft as it fell.

From Science Daily Jul. 6, 2026

A headframe — that’s the tower built directly over an underground mine shaft — is part of Tonopah’s logo.

From Los Angeles Times Jun. 14, 2026

But it's clear the consequences of this strike could have been far worse: the drone hit the lift shaft on the roof, which absorbed much of the blast.

From BBC May 30, 2026

As the men spoke softly, one of them spun a small shaft on a flat piece of wood, sliding his palms back and forth and made a small fire that quickly built into a flame.

From The Wall Street Journal May 9, 2026

Now Taran dared not loose another shaft for fear of hitting one of the companions.

From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander

It’s not clear where the ventilation shafts are at Pickaxe or if they lead into the heart of the site.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 17, 2026

Although mining no longer takes place there, mining engineers remain responsible for maintaining the extensive network of tunnels and shafts safely.

From Science Daily Jul. 6, 2026

While rare earths will be the primary focus, exploration will also assess the potential for gold mining — the area is dotted with old, small-scale adits and shafts.

From Los Angeles Times Mar. 30, 2026

Springs was once a booming gold town, but its mines were closed several years ago because the extreme depth of the shafts made operations uneconomical.

From BBC Feb. 17, 2026

When he lifted the covers, shafts of brilliant-colored light leaped from the plates and bounced around the ceiling, the walls, across the floor, and out the windows.

From "The Phantom Tollbooth" by Norton Juster

In her view, she was shafted into the “what’s mine is yours” agreement.

From Salon Apr. 23, 2026

The rare find included a shafted Roman "pilum" spear.

From Reuters Sep. 6, 2023

And still more get shafted by bureaucratic blunders: One survivor, for instance, filed a claim on time but was falsely told by the VA that she was too young to qualify.

From Slate Jan. 24, 2023

Many of their residents feel shafted anew by the trade deal, their resentment toward Johnson’s government in far-off London on the rise.

From Los Angeles Times Jan. 27, 2021

Looking at the shafted sun, Francie had that same fine feeling that came when she recalled the poem they recited in school.

From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith

For some, it’s the beautiful place where having it all means shafting someone else, as in Roman Polanski’s “Chinatown,” about Los Angeles’ theft of water from the Owens Valley.

From Salon Nov. 7, 2019

Lindsay was instrumental, way back in the dark ages of the fifties, in forcing the N.H.L. to redress the historic shafting of their chattels by an ownership combine stuck in nineteenth-century ideas of employee relations.

From The New Yorker Apr. 19, 2015

Not too long ago, positive change inevitably occurred following an embarrassing news report of a company behaving badly, e.g., shafting its employees out of their justly earned wages.

From Forbes Feb. 16, 2015

Among four citations alleging repeat safety violations were charges of unguarded elevated platforms and horizontal shafting.

From Washington Times Jun. 16, 2014

Instead she saw...the sky—moonlight shafting through smoke, and even the glimmer of stars.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor




Vocabulary lists containing shaft


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