haft

1 of 2

noun

: the handle of a weapon or tool

haft

2 of 2

verb

hafted; hafting; hafts

transitive verb

: to set in or furnish with a haft

Examples of haft in a Sentence

Noun the blade of the adze is still good, but the haft is broken and will have to be replaced
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Handles helped make the tools easier to grip and more versatile; Wang and his colleagues found one bladelet with part of a bone haft still attached to the stone. Kiona N. Smith, Ars Technica, 3 Mar. 2022 This chert bladelet still has a remnant of its bone haft attached. Kiona N. Smith, Ars Technica, 3 Mar. 2022 The wooden haft is perfectly preserved & one of only a handful to survive in Britain. Isis Davis-Marks, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Sep. 2021 If Neanderthals were going to the trouble of putting tar on a small, everyday domestic tool like a flake (whether to attach it to a haft or just to make a simple grip), then producing tar in usable amounts must have been routine. Kiona N. Smith, Ars Technica, 22 Oct. 2019
Verb
Their study, published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, found that the makers of the stone tools used the adhesive to mold a handle rather than haft the tool to wood. Katie Hunt, CNN, 21 Feb. 2024 For example, scanning electron microscopy allowed to us to pinpoint that camel hair was chosen as a fiber for making this rope bridle, while collagen preserved within ancient sinew revealed that deer tissue was used to haft a Bronze Age arrowhead to its shaft. William Taylor, The Conversation, 11 Aug. 2021 There was the first time someone knapped and hafted a rock onto a spear shaft, and the first time someone strung up a bow. Tyler Freel, Outdoor Life, 19 Mar. 2020 So the fact that archaeologists have found a handful of tools hafted using birch tar tells us that Neanderthals were (pardon the pun) pretty sharp. Kiona N. Smith, Ars Technica, 22 Oct. 2019 Those fires may have been used to work on existing tools, not just haft new ones. Kiona N. Smith, Ars Technica, 2 July 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'haft.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Old English hæft; akin to Old English hebban to lift — more at heave entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of haft was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near haft

Cite this Entry

“Haft.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/haft. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

haft

noun
ˈhaft
: the handle of a weapon or tool

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