Definition of "distaff" [dis•taff]

• A staff that holds on its cleft end the unspun flax, wool, or tow from which thread is drawn in spinning by hand. (noun)
• An attachment for a spinning wheel that serves this purpose. (noun)
• Work and concerns traditionally considered important to women. (noun)
• Women considered as a group. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Snyder said that although she wasn't familiar with the word distaff, the name Ladies 'Classic made her think it was a race with all-female jockeys."
• "A distaff is a rod on which wool is wound before being spun into thread."
• "The distaff was a larger, stouter stick, around one end of which the material to be spun was wound in a loose ball."