Etimology
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.
verb
draw (third-person singular simple present draws, present participle drawing, simple past drew, past participle drawn or (colloquial and nonstandard) drew)
To pull or exert force.
To attract, exert an influence on.
To extend, protract.
To move, travel, approach.
To extract, remove, select.
To obtain, elicit.
To represent.
Examples
He drew a sheaf of papers from his bag.
Seals […] throw their bodies forward, drawing their hinder-parts after them.
“[…] 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. […]”
Lys shuddered, and I put my arm around her and drew her to me; and thus we sat throughout the hot night. She told me of her abduction and of the fright she had undergone, and together we thanked God that she had come through unharmed, because the great brute had dared not pause along the danger-infested way.
At the last moment Mollie, the foolish, pretty white mare who drew Mr. Jones's trap, came mincing daintily in, chewing at a lump of sugar.
She settled in the window seat, drawing her leg up beneath her.
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.
She drew the curtains to let in the sunlight.
This horse draws well.
How long her face is drawn!
the huge Offa's dike which he drew from the mouth of Wye to that of Dee
A ship draws ten feet of water.
Greater hulks draw deep.
He drew himself to his full height and glowered at the interloper.
She took a deep breath and drew her corset-strings.
The carriage draws easily.
[…] the golfer thinks, “Ah! To draw the ball, I must be like the old pros and incorporate hand action through impact, twisting the clubhead to the left.” All you have to do to apply the spin needed to draw the ball left is to create a very small conflict between the clubface aim and the path the clubhead is traveling.
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 to draw attention to them.
A place like the Right Livers' Rest was bound to draw freaks, same as molasses draws flies.
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.
I drew a deep breath and wiped my brow.
Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes. […] She put back a truant curl from her forehead where it had sought egress to the world, and looked him full in the face now, drawing a deep breath which caused the round of her bosom to lift the lace at her throat.
So always look on the bright side of death, / Just before you draw your terminal breath.
These following bodies do not draw: smaragd, achates, corneolus, pearl, jaspis, chalcedonius, alabaster, porphyry, coral, marble, touchstone, haematites, or bloodstone […]
Keep a watch upon the particular bias which nature has fixed in their minds, that it may not draw too much.The spelling has been modernized.
The spelling has been modernized.
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.
The president's comments have drawn strong criticism from rightwing media outlets.
The chimney won't draw properly if it's clogged up with soot.
to draw a mass of metal into wire
The dough was run through the pasta machine and drawn into a long ribbon.
water […] will shrink or draw into less room
A ship's sail is said to draw when it is filled with wind.
She thought she heard a noise in her chamber, and she drew herself within the casement.
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.
Heavy clouds drew together above our heads.
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.
On one of my expeditions, after a stormy night, at the end of March, the hounds drew all day without finding a fox.
They drew their swords and fought each other.
draw water from a well
The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep.
In private draw your poultry, clean your tripe.
Provided magistracies were filled by men freely chosen or drawn.
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.
Spirits, by distillations, may be drawn out of vegetable juices, which shall flame and fume of themselves.
At the start of their turn, each player must draw a card.
Go, wash thy face, and draw thy action.
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; […]
"There's your tay set for you an' drawin' nicely this minute, Miss Ethel," called old Bridget from the hall.
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.
Tea is much nicer if you let it draw for more than two minutes before pouring.
Jill has four diamonds; she'll try to draw for a flush.
The circuit draws three hundred watts.
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.
I had thought, sir, to have held my peace untilYou have drawn oaths from him not to stay.
He tried to draw a conclusion from the facts.
We do not draw the moral lessons we might from history.
to draw money from a bank
He refused to be drawn on the subject
A crude picture had been drawn on the wall of his poky apartment.
Her first novel contained a host of characters who were richly and convincingly drawn.
to draw a memorial, a deed, or bill of exchange
Clerk, draw a deed of gift.
When I came in she was drawing on a big piece of coloured paper.
A flattering painter, vvho made it his care / To dravv men as they ought to be, not as they are.
Can I untouch'd the Fair ones Paſſions move? / Or Thou draw Beauty, and not feel it's Pow'r?
Sepia Delft tiles surrounded the fireplace, their crudely drawn Biblical scenes in faded cyclamen blending with the pinkish pine, while above them, instead of a mantelshelf, there was an archway high enough to form a balcony with slender balusters and a tapestry-hung wall behind.
noun
draw (countable and uncountable, plural draws)
That which draws: that which attracts e.g. a crowd.
The act of drawing:
The result of drawing:
That which is drawn (e.g. funds from an account).
Draft: flow through a flue of gasses (smoke) resulting from a combustion process, possibly adjustable with a damper.
(sports) The spin or twist imparted to a ball etc. by a drawing stroke.
(golf) A golf shot that (for the right-handed player) curves intentionally to the left. See hook, slice, fade.
(curling) A shot that is intended to land gently in the house (the circular target) without knocking out other stones; cf. takeout.
(geography) A dry stream bed that drains surface water only during periods of heavy rain or flooding.
(slang, countable) A bag of cannabis.
(slang, uncountable) Cannabis.
(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.
(horse racing) The stall from which a horse begins the race.
Examples
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.
After It, Clara became one of the top box-office draws in Hollywood, but her popularity was short lived.
the Wild West's quick-draw champion
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.
This configuration offered the capacity for an exceptionally long draw – Manchu archers drew all the way back to the point of the right shoulder […]
The game ended in a draw.
They're going to take away our draw!
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.
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.
So my friends and I would all chip in money to get a bag of weed or a draw.
Selling draw to your mates but it's really Oxo cubes.
Mick spoke to Simon, who was more of a drinker. He said that people who smoked draw were boring.
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
Related words
synonyms
(the result of a contest in which neither side has won): stalemate
(dry stream bed that drains water during periods of heavy precipitation): wash, arroyo, wadi, dry creek