[Slang]
Shaffle
(Shaf"fle) v. i. [See Shuffle.] To hobble or limp; to shuffle. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]
Shaffler
(Shaf"fler) n. A hobbler; one who limps; a shuffer. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]
Shafiite
(Sha"fi*ite) n. A member of one of the four sects of the Sunnites, or Orthodox Mohammedans; —
so called from its founder, Mohammed al-Shafeï.
Shaft
(Shaft) n. [OE. shaft, schaft, AS. sceaft; akin to D. schacht, OHG. scaft, G. schaft, Dan. &
Sw. skaft handle, haft, Icel. skapt, and probably to L. scapus, Gr. a staff. Probably originally, a shaven
or smoothed rod. Cf. Scape, Scepter, Shave.]
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. 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.
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. That which resembles in some degree the stem or handle of an arrow or a spear; a long, slender
part, especially when cylindrical. Specifically: (a) (Bot.) The trunk, stem, or stalk of a plant. (b) (Zoöl.)
The stem or midrib of a feather. See Illust. of Feather. (c) The pole, or tongue, of a vehicle; also, a
thill. (d) The part of a candlestick which supports its branches.
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. (e) The handle or helve of certain tools, instruments, etc., as a hammer, a whip, etc. (f) A pole, especially
a Maypole. [Obs.] Stow. (g) (Arch.) The body of a column; the cylindrical pillar between the capital
