the female side of a family (opposed to spear side)
Word origin
[1885–90]This word is first recorded in the period 1885–90. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: booster, classified, retread, twofer, upsweep
Examples of 'distaff side' in a sentence
distaff side
Turner's trailblazing for the discriminated distaff side began when she rode 100 winners in a year in 2008.