Dis'taff, n.

n. [A-S. distæf.] 1. The staff for holding the 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. Fairfax. 2. The holder of a distaff; hence, a woman, or the female sex. Not only make him an Amazon, but a launder, a distaff, a spinner. Sidney. His crown usurped, a distaff on the throne. Dryden. The plural is regular, but Distaves occurs in Beaumont & Fletcher.