Noah Webster
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.