draw

Etymology

From Middle English drawen, draȝen, dragen (“to drag, pull, push, draw (out), go to, make, add, etc.”), from Old English dragan, from Proto-West Germanic *dragan, from Proto-Germanic *draganą, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰregʰ- (“to draw, pull”). Doublet of drag and draught. cognates * Albanian dredh (“to turn, spin”) * Danish drage * Dutch dragen * German tragen (“to carry”) * Old Armenian դառնամ (daṙnam, “to turn”) * Sanskrit ध्रजस् (dhrájas, “gliding course or motion”) * West Frisian drage

verb

1. To pull or exert force.
   1. To pull (something) in a particular manner or direction.
      He drew a sheaf of papers from his bag.
   2. To drag (a person, thing, or part of the body), especially along the ground.
      Seals […] throw their bodies forward, drawing their hinder-parts after them. 1697, William Dampier, A New Voyage Round the World
   3. (transitive) To pull (a plough, vehicle etc.); to cause (something) to move forwards by pulling it.
      […] No rogue e’er felt the halter draw, with a good opinion of the law, and perhaps my own detestation of the law arises from my having frequently broken it.[…] 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad
   4. (archery) To pull back (the string of a bow) in preparation for shooting.
   5. To move (a part of one's body) in a particular direction.
      She settled in the window seat, drawing her leg up beneath her.
   6. To pull (a curtain, blinds etc.) open or closed.
      You should draw the curtains at night.
      It is realised that the old Pullman standard sleeper, with its convertible "sections", each containing upper and lower berths, and with no greater privacy at night than the curtains drawn along both sides of a middle aisle, has had its day. 1944 November and December, “"Duplex Roomette" Sleeping Cars”, in Railway Magazine, page 324
      She drew the curtains to let in the sunlight.
   7. (intransitive, now rare) To pull something along; to have force to move anything by pulling.
      This horse draws well.
   8. To pull (one's face, features) out of shape, from emotion etc.
   9. (now rare) To construct (a wall, canal etc.) from one point to another.
      the huge Offa's dike which he drew from the mouth of Wye to that of Dee 1874, John Richard Green, A Short History of the English People
   10. To require (a depth of water) for floating.
       A ship draws ten feet of water.
   11. (reflexive) To assume a specific position or attitude.
       He drew himself to his full height and glowered at the interloper.
   12. To pull (a belt or other item) so that it tightens or wraps around something more closely.
       She took a deep breath and drew her corset-strings.
   13. (curling) To make a shot that lands gently in the house (the circular target) without knocking out other stones.
   14. (intransitive, now rare) To be pulled along (in a specified way).
       The carriage draws easily.
   15. (cricket) To play (a short-length ball directed at the leg stump) with an inclined bat so as to deflect the ball between the legs and the wicket.
   16. (golf) To hit (the ball) with the toe of the club so that it is deflected toward the left.
   17. (billiards) To strike (the cue ball) below the center so as to give it a backward rotation which causes it to take a backward direction on striking another ball.
2. To attract, exert an influence on.
   1. To induce (the mind, eyes, attention etc.) to be directed at or focused on something.
      From the moment she entered the room, all eyes were drawn to her.
      His mind was drawn back to the events of the preceding morning.
      Handsignalmen, where needed, ought to wear a conspicuous orange/yellow cape (like many road workmen) to draw attention to them. 1964 April, “Letters: Rethinking emergency procedures”, in Modern Railways, page 274
   2. To cause (someone) to come to a particular place, condition, or course of action; to attract (a person).
      The restaurant was packed, and the promenade between the two main courts and the subsidiary courts was thronged with healthy-looking youngish people, drawn to the Mecca of tennis from all parts of the country. 1935, George Goodchild, chapter 5, in Death on the Centre Court
   3. To take (air, smoke etc.) into the lungs; to inhale.
      I drew a deep breath and wiped my brow.
      So always look on the bright side of death, / Just before you draw your terminal breath. 1979, Monty Python, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
   4. (transitive, intransitive) To attract (something) by means of a physical force, especially magnetism or gravity; (figurative) to act as an inducement or enticement.
   5. To cause (something); to bring (something) about as a consequence.
      In a desperately tight opening set, the pace and accuracy of the Serbian's groundstrokes began to draw errors from the usually faultless Nadal and earned him the first break point of the day at 5-4. July 3, 2011, Piers Newbury, “Wimbledon 2011: Novak Djokovic beats Rafael Nadal in final”, in BBC Sport
   6. To provoke or attract (a particular response or reaction).
      The president's comments have drawn strong criticism from rightwing media outlets.
   7. (intransitive) To have a draught; to allow air to be passed through in order to allow for combustion.
      The chimney won't draw properly if it's clogged up with soot.
3. To extend, protract.
   1. (obsolete) To extend the duration of (something); to prolong.
   2. To make (wire) by pulling it through an aperture; to stretch (metal) into a wire.
      to draw a mass of metal into wire
   3. To stretch or elongate.
      The dough was run through the pasta machine and drawn into a long ribbon.
   4. (intransitive) To become contracted; to shrink.
   5. (nautical) Of a sail, to fill with wind.
      A ship's sail is said to draw when it is filled with wind.
4. To move, travel, approach.
   1. (reflexive, now rare) To move in a specific direction.
      She thought she heard a noise in her chamber, and she drew herself within the casement. 1794, Ann Radcliffe, The Mysteries of Udolpho
   2. (intransitive, used with prepositions and adverbs) To move steadily in a particular direction or into a specific position.
      The runners drew level with each other as they approached the finish line.
      Draw near to the fire and I will tell you a tale.
      The end of the world draws near.
   3. To come to, towards (a particular moment in time); to approach (a time).
      As it drew towards evening, I packed up and headed for home.
      As the war drew to its end, it became evident that repairs and rebuilding in the heavily blitzed Greater London area would be so extensive as to afford opportunity for effective large-scale planning. 1962 October, “The Victoria Line was only part of the plan”, in Modern Railways, page 258
   4. (hunting, now rare) To search for game; to track a quarry.
      On one of my expeditions, after a stormy night, at the end of March, the hounds drew all day without finding a fox. 1928, Siegfried Sassoon, Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man, Penguin, published 2013, page 87
5. To extract, remove, select.
   1. To pull out, unsheathe (a sword, firearm etc.).
      They drew their swords and fought each other.
   2. To take (water) from a well or other source.
      draw water from a well
   3. To disembowel (someone); to remove the viscera from (an animal), especially before cooking.
      In private draw your poultry, clean your tripe. 1709, William King, The Art of Cookery
   4. (transitive, medicine, now rare) To extract (pus, humours, etc.) by means of medical treatment.
   5. To select (an item) at random to decide which of a group of people will receive or undergo something; to select (a person) by this process.
      Provided magistracies were filled by men freely chosen or drawn. 1784, Edward Augustus Freeman, An essay on parliamentary representation, and the magistracies of our boroughs royal:[…]
   6. To conduct (a lottery); to select (the numbers) for a lottery; to win (a prize) in a lottery.
      The winning lottery numbers were drawn every Tuesday.
      In the drawing of lots, my sister drew her own room, and I drew Master B.'s. 1859, Charles Dickens, The Haunted House
   7. To extract (a tooth).
   8. To extract (juice, fluids etc.) from something by pressure, osmosis or similar.
      Spirits, by distillations, may be drawn out of vegetable juices, which shall flame and fume of themselves. 1705, George Cheyne, Philosophical Principles of Religion Natural and Revealed
   9. (card games) To take or be dealt (a card) from the deck; to have (a particular hand) as a result of this.
      At the start of their turn, each player must draw a card.
   10. (transitive, obsolete) To withdraw.
   11. (transitive or intransitive) To end a game in a draw (with neither side winning).
       We drew last time we played.  I drew him last time I played him.  I drew my last game against him.
       The game is won when a player places any of his pieces on the same square with his opponent's Princess, or when a Chief takes a Chief. It is drawn when a Chief is taken by any opposing piece other than the opposing Chief;[…] 1922, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Chessmen of Mars, HTML edition, The Gutenberg Project, published 2010
   12. (intransitive, transitive) To steep; to leave (tea) temporarily in water to allow the flavour to increase.
       She made a pot of very strong tea, and while she was waiting for it to draw she opened the kitchen door to inspect her garden. 1984, Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac, Penguin, published 2016, page 119
       Tea is much nicer if you let it draw for more than two minutes before pouring.
   13. (intransitive) To take or be dealt a playing card from the deck. See also draw out.
       Jill has four diamonds; she'll try to draw for a flush.
   14. To run (a bath).
   15. (analogous) To consume (power).
       The circuit draws three hundred watts.
6. To obtain, elicit.
   1. To take (something) from a particular source, especially of information; to derive.
      He drew comfort from the thought that he was not the first to suffer this way.
      She draws her subject matter from the events of her own life.
   2. To call forth (something) from a person, to elicit.
   3. To deduce or infer (a conclusion); to make (a deduction).
      He tried to draw a conclusion from the facts.
   4. To receive (a salary); to withdraw (money) from a bank etc.
      to draw money from a bank
   5. To elicit information from (someone); to induce (a person) to speak on some subject. (Now frequently in passive.)
      He refused to be drawn on the subject
7. To represent.
   1. (transitive) To produce (a shape, figure, picture etc.) with pencil, crayon, chalk, or other implement.
      A crude picture had been drawn on the wall of his poky apartment.
   2. (transitive) To depict (something) linguistically; to portray in words.
      Her first novel contained a host of characters who were richly and convincingly drawn.
   3. (transitive) To draw up, compose (a document).
      to draw a memorial, a deed, or bill of exchange
   4. (intransitive) To produce an image of something by artistic means; to make drawings.
      When I came in she was drawing on a big piece of coloured paper.
   5. (transitive) To produce a visual representation of (a person or thing) by lines and marks with pencil, pen, paints etc.

noun

1. That which draws: that which attracts e.g. a crowd.
   At the mountain’s base is the leafy suburb of Kowloon Tong. It has never been a big tourist draw, but in the decade since territorial control returned to China, this quintessentially Hong Kong neighborhood has had many more visitors — and important changes. June 24, 2007, Joyce Hor-Chung Lau, “Hong Kong Is Reshaped by Mainlanders”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2015-06-05, Asia Pacific
   After It, Clara became one of the top box-office draws in Hollywood, but her popularity was short lived. 2012, Christoper Zara, Tortured Artists: From Picasso and Monroe to Warhol and Winehouse, the Twisted Secrets of the World's Most Creative Minds, part 1, chapter 1, 27
2. The act of drawing:
   1. The act of drawing a gun from a holster, etc.
      the Wild West's quick-draw champion
   2. The procedure by which the result of a lottery is determined.
      The draw is on Saturday.
      Having spent more than £500,000 on players last summer, Crawley can hardly be classed as minnows but they have still punched way above their weight and this kind of performance means no-one will relish pulling them out of the hat in Sunday's draw. January 29, 2011, Chris Bevan, “Torquay 0 - 1 Crawley Town”, in BBC
   3. (archery) The act of pulling back the strings in preparation of firing; the distance the strings are pulled back.
      This configuration offered the capacity for an exceptionally long draw – Manchu archers drew all the way back to the point of the right shoulder[…] 2016-08-25, Mike Loades, The Composite Bow, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 21
3. The result of drawing:
   1. The result of a contest that neither side has won; a tie.
      The game ended in a draw.
   2. (cricket) The result of a two-innings match in which at least one side did not complete all their innings before time ran out (as distinguished from a tie).
4. That which is drawn (e.g. funds from an account).
   They're going to take away our draw! (referring to e.g. disability assistance)
   1. In a commission-based job, an advance on future (potential) commissions given to an employee by the employer.
5. Draft: flow through a flue of gasses (smoke) resulting from a combustion process, possibly adjustable with a damper.
   She looked in [to the stove] and a tight, dismayed gasp escaped her. She slammed the door shut and adjusted the draw with trembling fingers. For a moment—just a moment—she had seen her old friend Annabelle Frane in the coals. 1981, Stephen King, Do the Dead Sing?
6. (sports) The spin or twist imparted to a ball etc. by a drawing stroke.
7. (golf) A golf shot that (for the right-handed player) curves intentionally to the left. See hook, slice, fade.
8. (curling) A shot that is intended to land gently in the house (the circular target) without knocking out other stones; cf. takeout.
9. (geography) A dry stream bed that drains surface water only during periods of heavy rain or flooding.
   The garden, curiously enough, was a quarter of a mile from the house, and the way to it led up a shallow draw past the cattle corral. 1918, Willa Cather, My Ántonia, Mirado Modern Classics, paperback edition, page 15
10. (slang, countable) A bag of cannabis.
    So my friends and I would all chip in money to get a bag of weed or a draw. 2011, Yvonne Ellis, Daughter, Arise: A Journey from Devastation to Restoration, page 54
11. (slang, uncountable) Cannabis.
    Selling draw to your mates but it's really Oxo cubes. 2003, “Soap Bar”, in The Manifesto, performed by Goldie Looking Chain
    Mick spoke to Simon, who was more of a drinker. He said that people who smoked draw were boring. 2017, Michael Coleman, Old Skool Rave, page 139
12. (poker) A situation in which one or more players has four cards of the same suit or four out of five necessary cards for a straight and requires a further card to make their flush or straight.
    The player to your left immediately raises you the minimum by clicking the raise button. This action immediately suggests that he's on a draw 2007, Ryan Wiseman, Earn $30,000 Per Month Playing Online Poker: A Step-By-Step Guide to Single, page 82
13. (horse racing) The stall from which a horse begins the race.