haft

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun A handle or hilt, especially the handle of a tool or weapon.
• transitive verb To fit into or equip with a hilt or handle.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun A handle; specifically, the handle of a cutting or thrusting instrument, as a knife, sword, or dagger; a hilt.
• noun A place of abode; dwelling; lodging.
• To set in a haft; furnish with a handle.
• To drive up to the haft or hilt, as a knife or dirk.
• To fix or settle firmly; plant.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun A handle; that part of an instrument or vessel taken into the hand, and by which it is held and used; -- said chiefly of a knife, sword, or dagger; the hilt.
• noun Scot. A dwelling.
• transitive verb To set in, or furnish with, a haft.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun Northern England A piece of mountain pasture to which a farm animal has become hefted.
• noun The handle of a tool or weapon.
• verb To fit a handle to a tool or weapon.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun the handle of a weapon or tool