rockstaffn.2
/ˈrɒkstɑːf/, /ˈrɒkstaf/, U.S. /ˈrɑkˌstæf/ English regional (East Anglian). Now rare.
A distaff. Chiefly figurative: a superstition or superstitious piece of proverbial wisdom; esp. in an old woman's rock-staff. Cf. rock n.2
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > fancy or fantastic notion > [noun]
phantoma1375
fantasyc1440
conceitc1450
fancy1471
crotchet1573
whim-wham1580
vision1592
reverie1602
whimsy1607
windmill1612
brainworm1617
maggota1625
vapour1631
flama1637
fantastic1641
idea1660
whim1697
rockstaff1729
whigmaleery1730
vagary1753
freak1785
whimsy-whamsy1807
crankum1822
whimmery1837
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture of thread or yarn > [noun] > spinning > distaff
distaffc1000
rocka1325
spin-rock1484
rockstick1821
rockstaffa1825
1729 D. Defoe Madagascar 394 I have seen the People..spin it with a Spindle made of a Bone, and a Rock-staff.
1765 Compl. Maltster & Brewer p. xxiii The notion of pease bloom, and weeds being up in the water, is but a meer old woman's rockstaff.
1818 ‘Ex’ Freedom of Eng. 263 In the cause of the Bourbons must be recognized..the cause of old women's rockstaves and stupid prejudices, obsolete laws, bad customs, and old abuses.
a1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) II. 279 Rock-staff,..a distaff; from which..the wool was spun ‘by twirling a ball below’... ‘An old woman's rockstaff,’ is a contemptuous expression for a silly superstitious fancy.
1867 Notes & Queries 3rd Ser. 11 215 She is so full of her old woman's rock-staffs.
1895 P. H. Emerson Birds, Beasts, & Fishes Norfolk Broadland ii. xix. 396 There is a curious rockstaff in the marshlands that a viper's slough will draw thorns from your flesh.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
> see also
also refers to : rock-staffn.1
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n.21729see also