Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DIS'TAFF, n. [The English books refer this word to the Saxon distæf; but I have not found the word in the Saxon Dictionary.]

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. – Prov. xxxi.
2. Figuratively, a woman, or the female sex. His crown usurped, a distaff on the throne. – Dryden.