distaff side
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of distaff side
First recorded in 1885–90
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
On the distaff side, Claire Messud gives us “The Burning Girl,” a kind of teen companion to “The Woman Upstairs,” her 2013 masterpiece about adult female friendship.
From Washington Post • Aug. 22, 2017
More details from the WSJ/NBC News poll: Another poll, from Fox News, finds Mrs. Clinton on the distaff side of a “gender gap” among Democrats—and quite a gap it is.
From The Wall Street Journal • Aug. 4, 2015
On the distaff side, last year’s winner, Mary Cain, returns to defend her crown.
From Newsweek • Feb. 13, 2015
At the moment several new factors are combining to favour the distaff side more.
From Economist • Jul. 7, 2011
There were also Cromwellian ancestors on the distaff side.
From The Adventure of Living : a Subjective Autobiography by Strachey, John St. Loe
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
