Distaff vs. Female — What's the Difference?

A distaff (, , also called a rock) is a tool used in spinning. It is designed to hold the unspun fibers, keeping them untangled and thus easing the spinning process.

Female (symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces non-mobile ova (egg cells), the type of gamete that fuses with the male gamete during sexual reproduction.Most female mammals, including female humans, have two X chromosomes. Female characteristics vary between different species with some species having pronounced female characteristics, such as the presence of pronounced mammary glands in mammals.

A stick or spindle on to which wool or flax is wound for spinning.

Of or denoting the sex that produces ova or bears young.

Of or concerning women

Characteristic of or appropriate to this sex in humans and other animals

A staff that holds on its cleft end the unspun flax, wool, or tow from which thread is drawn in spinning by hand.

Consisting of members of this sex. See Usage Note at lady.

An attachment for a spinning wheel that serves this purpose.

Of or denoting the gamete that is larger and less motile than the other corresponding gamete. Used of anisogamous organisms.

Work and concerns traditionally considered important to women.

Designating an organ, such as a pistil or ovary, that functions in producing seeds after fertilization.

Women considered as a group.

Bearing pistils but not stamens; pistillate

Of or relating to women and girls; female.

Designed to receive or fit around a complementary male part, as a slot or receptacle

Relating to or being the female line or maternal branch of a family.

A female organism.

A device to which a bundle of natural fibres (often wool, flax, or cotton) are attached for temporary storage, before being drawn off gradually to spin thread. A traditional distaff is a staff with flax fibres tied loosely to it (as indicated by the etymology of the word), but modern distaffs are often made of cords weighted with beads, and attached to the wrist.

A woman or girl.

The part of a spinning wheel from which fibre is drawn to be spun.

Belonging to the sex which typically produces eggs (ova), or to the gender which is typically associated with it.

Anything traditionally done by or considered of importance to women only.

Characteristic of this sex/gender. feminine, womanly.}}

A race for female horses only.

Tending to lead to or regulate the development of sexual characteristics typical of this sex.

A woman, or women considered as a group.

Feminine; of the feminine grammatical gender.

Of, relating to, or characteristic of women.

(of bacteria) Lacking the F factor, and able to receive DNA from another bacterium which does have this factor (a male).

Of the maternal side of a family.

(figuratively) Having an internal socket, as in a connector or pipe fitting.

The staff for holding a bunch of flax, tow, or wool, from which the thread is drawn in spinning by hand.

One of the female (feminine) sex or gender.

Used as a symbol of the holder of a distaff; hence, a woman; women, collectively.

A human of the feminine sex.

The sphere of work by women

An animal of the sex that produces eggs.

The staff on which wool or flax is wound before spinning

(botany) A plant which produces only that kind of reproductive organ capable of developing into fruit after impregnation or fertilization; a pistillate plant.

Characteristic of or peculiar to a woman;

A bacterium which lacks the F factor, and is able to receive DNA from another bacterium which has that factor.

A female connector, pipe fitting, etc.

An individual of the sex which conceives and brings forth young, or (in a wider sense) which has an ovary and produces ova.

A plant which produces only that kind of reproductive organs which are capable of developing into fruit after impregnation or fertilization; a pistillate plant.

Belonging to the sex which conceives and gives birth to young, or (in a wider sense) which produces ova; not male.

Belonging to an individual of the female sex; characteristic of woman; feminine; as, female tenderness.

Having pistils and no stamens; pistillate; or, in cryptogamous plants, capable of receiving fertilization. (Pros.) double rhymes, or rhymes (called in French feminine rhymes because they end in e weak, or feminine) in which two syllables, an accented and an unaccented one, correspond at the end of each line.

An animal that produces gametes (ova) that can be fertilized by male gametes (spermatozoa)

A person who belongs to the sex that can have babies

Being the sex (of plant or animal) that produces fertilizable gametes (ova) from which offspring develop;

Characteristic of or peculiar to a woman;

For or composed of women or girls;