The DICT Development Group

  Distaff \Dis"taff\, n.; pl. Distaffs, rarely Distaves. [OE.
     distaf, dysestafe, AS. distaef; cf. LG. diesse the bunch of
     flax on a distaff, and E. dizen. See Staff.]
     1. The staff for holding a bunch of flax, tow, or wool, from
        which the thread is drawn in spinning by hand.
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              I will the distaff hold; come thou and spin.
                                                    --Fairfax.
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     2. Used as a symbol of the holder of a distaff; hence, a
        woman; women, collectively.
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              His crown usurped, a distaff on the throne.
                                                    --Dryden.
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              Some say the crozier, some say the distaff was too
              busy.                                 --Howell.
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     Note: The plural is regular, but Distaves occurs in Beaumont
           & Fletcher.
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     Descent by distaff, descent on the mother's side.
  
     Distaff Day, or Distaff's Day, the morrow of the
        Epiphany, that is, January 7, because working at the
        distaff was then resumed, after the Christmas festival; --
        called also Rock Day, a distaff being called a rock.
        --Shipley.
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  distaff
      adj 1: characteristic of or peculiar to a woman; "female
             sensitiveness"; "female suffrage" [syn: female,
             distaff]
      n 1: the sphere of work by women
      2: the staff on which wool or flax is wound before spinning

  Distaff
     (Heb. pelek, a "circle"), the instrument used for twisting
     threads by a whirl (Prov. 31:19).