The staff on which wool or flax is wound before spinning WordNet 3.0 & Open English WordNet

A distaff, is a tool used in spinning. Wikipedia

A tool used in spinning Wikipedia Disambiguation

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 (as indicated by the etymology of the word), but modern distaffs are often made of cords weighted with beads, and attached to the wrist. Wiktionary

Device to which fibres are attached for temporary storage. Wiktionary (translation)