* Traditional Craft: "The old woman spun wool with practiced ease, her fingers moving effortlessly across the distaff."
* Figurative Meaning: "Her family was known for its strong female lineage, a true distaff side of the family."
* Historical Reference: "In ancient Greece, women were often depicted with a distaff, symbolizing their role in household tasks."
* Literary Example: "The spinning wheel hummed softly as the distaff yielded its thread, each turn of the wheel a whisper of forgotten stories."
Remember, "distaff" can be used literally to refer to the tool itself, or figuratively to denote the female side of a family or a woman's role in domesticity.