elevator shaft
18
3.5
- noun
- /ˈɛlɪˌveɪtər ʃæft/
- Specialized
:
hueco del ascensor
- The maintenance crew inspected the elevator shaft to ensure it was safe for operation.
- an empty elevator shaft
- an open elevator shaft
- the top of the elevator shaft
Examples
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There's an access ladder in the elevator shaft.
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Nearby is the elevator shaft, a gaping hole in the ruins, but recognizable as such.
Fiction book (2001) -
Wait a minute, did I fall down the elevator shaft?
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Hold position behind the elevator shaft.
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My daughter is waiting at the bottom of the elevator shaft and I am going down to get her.
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The elevator shaft gets you close, but the only direct access is through security.
-
There's an elevator shaft where they bring in the service carts.
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Two Russians in green overalls were peering down the elevator shaft.
Fiction book (1997) -
A grating metallic whine comes from inside the elevator shaft.
Fiction book (1990) -
The bartenders brought booze up from the first floor in a hollow elevator shaft using a pulley system.
Fiction book (1998)
Synonyms
106
5.5
A vertical or sloping passage, for example for an elevator in a building
A tall, vertical space in a building where an elevator moves up and down
How Deep
- Specialized
18
3.5
6
4.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase 'elevator shaft' is directly compositional: it denotes the shaft (vertical passage) that contains or accommodates an elevator, which the meanings of 'elevator' and 'shaft' together make clear. This simple noun+noun compounding follows common cross-linguistic patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Elevator shaft is the name for the long, up-and-down 'space' in a building where the elevator moves between floors. The word shaft means a narrow passage, so the phrase literally describes the passage for the elevator and is used today to mean that exact part of the building.