distaff side

distaff side
the female side of a family (opposed to spear side).
[1885-90]

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • distaff side — Synonyms and related words: affiliation, agnate, ancestry, apparentation, birth, blood, blood relation, blood relative, bloodline, branch, breed, clansman, cognate, collateral, collateral relative, common ancestry, connections, consanguinean,… …   Moby Thesaurus

  • distaff side — dis′taff side n. sex the female side of a family • Etymology: 1885–90 …   From formal English to slang

  • distaff side — the female side of a family (opposed to spear side). [1885 90] …   Useful english dictionary

  • distaff side — noun the female or maternal branch of a family Ant: spear side …   Wiktionary

  • distaff side — /ˈdɪstaf saɪd/ (say distahf suyd) noun the female side of a family …  

  • on the distaff side — old fashioned phrase on the woman’s side of a family Thesaurus: describing or relating to relatednesshyponym Main entry: distaff * * * on the distaff side idiom ( …   Useful english dictionary

  • on the distaff side — old fashioned on the woman s side of a family …   English dictionary

  • Distaff — Queen Berthe instructing girls to spin flax on spindles using distaffs, Albert Anker, 1888 …   Wikipedia

  • distaff — I. noun (plural distaffs) Etymology: Middle English distaf, from Old English distæf, from dis (akin to Middle Low German dise bunch of flax) + stæf staff Date: before 12th century 1. a. a staff for holding the flax, tow, or wool in spinning b.… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • distaff — UK [ˈdɪstɑːf] / US [ˈdɪˌstæf] noun [countable] Word forms distaff : singular distaff plural distaffs a small stick used in the past for winding wool around when spinning • on the distaff side …   English dictionary

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