in the manufactures, an instrument used by weavers, which guides the thread it contains, either of woollen, silk, flax, or other matter, so as to make it form the woof of stuffs, cloths, linens, ribands, and other fabrics, by throwing the shuttle alternately from left to right, and from right to left, across between the threads of the warp, which are stretched out lengthwise on the loom.

In the middle of the shuttle is a kind of cavity, called the eye or chamber of the shuttle, in which is inclosed the spool, which is a part of the thread destined for the woof; and this is wound on a little tube of paper, rush, or other matter.