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Distaff vs Spindle - What's the difference?

distaff | spindle |

As nouns the difference between distaff and spindle

is that distaff is 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 (see Etymology), but modern distaffs are often made of cords weighted with beads, and attached to the wrist while spindle is a rod used for spinning and then winding natural fibres (especially wool), usually consisting of a shaft and a circular whorl positioned at either the upper or lower end of the shaft when suspended vertically from the forming thread.

As an adjective distaff

is of, relating to, or characteristic of women.

As a verb spindle is

to make into a long tapered shape.

distaff

English

(wikipedia distaff)

Noun

(en noun)
  • 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 (see Etymology), but modern distaffs are often made of cords weighted with beads, and attached to the wrist.
  • the part of a spinning wheel from which fibre is drawn to be spun
  • anything traditionally done by or considered of importance to women only
  • a woman, or women considered as a group
  • * Dryden
    • His crown usurped, a distaff on the throne.
  • * Howell
    • Some say the crozier, some say the distaff was too busy.

    Quotations

    * (English Citations of "distaff")

    Adjective

    (-)
  • of, relating to, or characteristic of women
  • referring to the maternal side of a family
  • :* {{quote-book
    • , year=1892 , year_published=2011 , edition=HTML , editor= , author=Sir Arthur Conan Doyle , title=The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes , chapter=The Noble Bachelor citation , genre= , publisher=The Gutenberg Project , isbn= , page= , passage=They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on the distaff side. }}

    Synonyms

    * (of, relating to, or characteristic of women ): female, maternal

    Antonyms

    * (of, relating to, or characteristic of women ): male, paternal

    Derived terms

    * distaff side

    spindle

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (dialectal)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (spinning) A rod used for spinning and then winding natural fibres (especially wool), usually consisting of a shaft and a circular whorl positioned at either the upper or lower end of the shaft when suspended vertically from the forming thread.
  • A rod which turns, or on which something turns.
    • the spindle of a vane
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2012-03
    • , author=(Henry Petroski) , title=Opening Doors , volume=100, issue=2, page=112-3 , magazine= citation , passage=A doorknob of whatever roundish shape is effectively a continuum of levers, with the axis of the latching mechanism—known as the spindle —being the fulcrum about which the turning takes place.}}
  • A rotary axis of a machine tool or power tool.
  • A worldwide tree of the genus Euonymus , originally used for making the spindles used for spinning wool.
  • An upright spike for holding paper documents by skewering.
  • The fusee of a watch.
  • A long and slender stalk resembling a spindle.
  • A yarn measure containing, in cotton yarn, 15,120 yards; in linen yarn, 14,400 yards.
  • (geometry) A solid generated by the revolution of a curved line about its base or double ordinate or chord.
  • Any marine univalve shell of the genus ; a (spindle stromb).
  • Any marine gastropod of the genus .

    • Synonyms

    * (a tree from the Euonymus genus) spindle tree

    Hypernyms

    * (a tree from the Euonymus genus) euonymus

    Verb

    (spindl)
  • To make into a long tapered shape.
  • To impale on a device for holding paper documents.
    • Do not fold, spindle or mutilate this document.

    Anagrams

    *

    External links

    * (Spindle) *