
Websters Dictionary 1828
This online edition has been carefully prepared in a special format. All words, definitions, and examples have been preserved, but the explanations of word origins have been left out to make the data easier to use in a digital format. We have also removed Webster's long technical introduction for the same reason.
Scripture references have been converted to a modern format, and many abbreviations have been expanded to make them easier to understand.

Distaff
DISTAFF, noun
1. The staff of a spinning-wheel, to which a bunch of flax or tow is tied, and from which the thread is drawn.
She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff Proverbs 31:19.
2. Figuratively, a woman, or the female sex.
His crown usurped, a distaff on the throne.