SHAFT


Meaning of SHAFT in English

I. shaft 1 /ʃɑːft $ ʃæft/ BrE AmE noun [countable]

[ Language: Old English ; Origin: sceaft ]

1 . PASSAGE a passage which goes down through a building or down into the ground, so that someone or something can get in or out

mine/elevator/ventilation etc shaft

a 300-foot elevator shaft

2 . HANDLE a long handle on a tool, ↑ spear etc

3 . OF LIGHT a narrow beam of light

shaft of light/sunlight

4 . ENGINE PART a long thin piece of metal in an engine or machine, that turns and passes on power or movement to another part of the machine:

a drive shaft

5 . FOR A HORSE [usually plural] one of a pair of poles between which a horse is tied to pull a vehicle

6 . ARROW literary an ↑ arrow

7 . get the shaft informal to be treated very unfairly

II. shaft 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive] informal not polite

to treat someone very unfairly, especially by dishonestly getting money from them:

I can’t believe you paid that much. You got shafted.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.