distaff
a staff with a cleft end for holding wool, flax, etc., from which the thread is drawn in spinning by hand.
a similar attachment on a spinning wheel.
Archaic.
a woman or women collectively.
women's work.
Sometimes Offensive. noting, pertaining to, characteristic of, or suitable for a female.: See also distaff side.
Origin of distaff
1usage note For distaff
Words Nearby distaff
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use distaff in a sentence
Indeed, the distaff vote may yet again break Republican this cycle—as it did in 2010—if the polls are to be believed.
The 2014 Election Is Yet Another Scrum in the Culture Wars | Lloyd Green | October 27, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAs Maggie in a 1990 production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof she was more than just a slip of distaff Mississippi flesh.
Behind the bride were carried the distaff and spindle, emblems of domestic life.
The Private Life of the Romans | Harold Whetstone JohnstonA beautiful young girl was seated near them, with her distaff, spinning gold thread.
Laboulaye's Fairy Book | VariousIn the morning she took her wheel and spun a whole distaff full; there was still no news.
Laboulaye's Fairy Book | Various
The invention of the loom and distaff has been piously ascribed to the gods.
The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire | Edward GibbonThe ancients were all familiar with the idea of women sometimes exchanging the spindle and distaff for the spear and shield.
Female Warriors, Vol. I (of 2) | Ellen C. Clayton
British Dictionary definitions for distaff
/ (ˈdɪstɑːf) /
the rod on which flax is wound preparatory to spinning
(modifier) of or concerning women: offensive to distaff members of the audience
Origin of distaff
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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