American Dictionary of the English Language

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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.

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Word of the Day

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.