distaff

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  Distaff
• WordNet 3.6
  • adj distaff characteristic of or peculiar to a woman "female sensitiveness","female suffrage"
  • n distaff the staff on which wool or flax is wound before spinning
  • n distaff the sphere of work by women
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• • Distaff The staff for holding a bunch of flax, tow, or wool, from which the thread is drawn in spinning by hand. "I will the distaff hold; come thou and spin."
  • Distaff Used as a symbol of the holder of a distaff; hence, a woman; women, collectively. "His crown usurped, a distaff on the throne.""Some say the crozier, some say the distaff was too busy."
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• • n distaff In the earliest method of spinning, the staff, usually a cleft stick about 3 feet long, on which was wound a quantity of wool, cotton, or flax to be spun. The lower end of the distaff was held between the left arm and the side, and the thread, passing through and gaged by the fingers of the left hand, was drawn out and twisted by those of the right, and wound on a suspended spindle made so as to be revolved like a top, which completed the twist. In Eastern countries and in some districts of Europe, especially in Italy, the primitive distaff and spindle are still nsed; but after the introduction of the spinning-wheel into Europe, about the fifteenth century, the distaff became an attachment only of that designed for fiax, and thus continued in general use till a recent period, modified in form.
  • n distaff Figuratively, a woman, or the female sex.
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• • n Distaff dis′taf the stick which holds the bunch of flax, tow, or wool in spinning
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