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Entry 9 senses Webster, 1913

Shaft

/shăft/ · IPA /ʃæft/
01 n. The slender, smooth stem of an arrow; hence, an arrow.
  1. 1.
    The slender, smooth stem of an arrow; hence, an arrow.
    “His sleep, his meat, his drink, is him bereft, That lean he wax, and dry as is a shaft.” — Chaucer.
    “A shaft hath three principal parts, the stele [stale], the feathers, and the head.” — Ascham.
  2. 2.
    The long handle of a spear or similar weapon; hence, the weapon itself; (Fig.) anything regarded as a shaft to be thrown or darted; as, shafts of light.[Fig.]
    “And the thunder, Winged with red lightning and impetuous rage, Perhaps hath spent his shafts.” — Milton.
    “Some kinds of literary pursuits . . . have been attacked with all the shafts of ridicule.” — V. Knox.
  3. 3.
    That which resembles in some degree the stem or handle of an arrow or a spear; a long, slender part, especially when cylindrical.(Bot.)
    “Thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold . . . his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same.” — Ex. xxv. 31.
  4. 4.
    The handle or helve of certain tools, instruments, etc., as a hammer, a whip, etc.(Arch.) [Obs.]
    “Bid time and nature gently spare The shaft we raise to thee.” — Emerson.
  5. 5.
    A rod at the end of a heddle.(Weaving)
  6. 6.
    A humming bird (Thaumastura cora) having two of the tail feathers next to the middle ones very long in the male; -- called also cora humming bird.(Zool.) Also: cora humming bird
  7. 7.
    A well-like excavation in the earth, perpendicular or nearly so, made for reaching and raising ore, for raising water, etc.(Mining)
  8. 8.
    A long passage for the admission or outlet of air; an air shaft.
  9. 9.
    The chamber of a blast furnace.
Phrases & compounds
Line shaft — a main shaft of considerable length, in a shop or factory, usually bearing a number of pulleys by which machines are driven, commonly by means of countershafts; -- called also line, or main line.
Shaft alley — a passage extending from the engine room to the stern, and containing the propeller shaft.
Shaft furnace — a furnace, in the form of a chimney, which is charged at the top and tapped at the bottom.