# Shaft

Shaft may refer to:

## Rotating machine elements

* Shaft (mechanical engineering), a rotating machine element used to transmit power
* Line shaft, a power transmission system
* Drive shaft, a shaft for transferring torque
* Axle, a shaft around which one or more wheels rotate

## Vertical narrow passages

* Elevator shaft, a vertical passage housing a lift or elevator
* Ventilation shaft, a vertical passage used in mines and tunnels to move fresh air underground, and to remove stale air
* Shaft (civil engineering), an underground vertical or inclined passageway
* Pitch (ascent/descent), a significant underground vertical space in caving terminology
* Shaft mining, the method of excavating a vertical or near-vertical tunnel from the top down, where there is initially no access to the bottom
* Shafting, illicit travelling through shafts

## Long narrow rigid bodies

* The body of a column between the capital and the pedestal, or the column itself
* Type of long handle (grip) of hand-tools
* Shaft (golf), the long, tapered tube or rod which connects the golfer’s hands to the club head
* Staff, various applications
* The rachis of a feather, used in the name of certain species of birds

## Fiction

* Shaft (franchise), a media franchise involving novels, comics, TV, film
** Shaft (novel), 1970 novel by Ernest Tidyman about an African-American private detective
** Shaft (1971 film), a film based on the novel
*** Shaft (song), theme song from the original film, serving as the theme for the entire franchise
** Shaft (2000 film), a direct sequel/spin-off of the 1971 film, released in 2000, and fourth film in the series
*** Shaft (2000 soundtrack)
** Shaft (2019 film), a direct sequel to the 2000 film and fifth film in the series
** Shaft (TV series), a 1973-1974 series of TV movies
** Shaft (Dynamite Entertainment), a comic book series based on the character John Shaft
** John Shaft, the titular character of the franchise
* Shaft (Castlevania), the dark priest from the Castlevania video game series
* Shaft (Marvel Comics), a Marvel Comics ninja character
* Shaft (Image Comics), a comic book character created by Rob Liefeld for his comic Youngblood
* Down (film), a 2001 horror film also known as The Shaft

## Music

* Shaft (rave group), a UK dance music act which had a 1991 hit with "Roobarb and Custard" sampling vintage children's television programme Roobarb
* Shaft (British electronic duo), a dance music act which had a 1999 hit with a cover-remix of "(Mucho Mambo) Sway"
* Shaft (New Zealand band), a New Zealand indie band
* Shaft (club), a blues and jazz club in Istanbul, Turkey
* Shaft (Isaac Hayes album), the soundtrack for the film of the same name, recorded by Isaac Hayes
** "Theme from Shaft", performed by Isaac Hayes
* Shaft (Bernard Purdie album), a 1971 jazz album featuring a cover of the above track

## Places

* Borden Shaft, Maryland, formerly called Shaft
* Shaft County, an administrative division of Gīlan Province in Iran
* Shaft, Iran, the capital of Shaft County
* Shaft, Bushehr, a village and island in Bushehr Province, Iran

## Other

* Shaft (company), a Japanese animation studio
* Penile shaft, a part of the penis
* Clitoral shaft, a part of the clitoris
* Diaphysis, shaft of a long bone