draff Meaning, Definition & Usage

Draff noun
Etymology
Cf. D. draf the sediment of ale, Icel. draf draff, husks. Cf. 1st Drab.
Definitions
  1. Refuse; lees; dregs; the wash given to swine or cows; hogwash; waste matter.
    Prodigals lately come from swine keeping, from eating draff and husks. Shak.
    The draff and offal of a bygone age. Buckle.
    Mere chaff and draff, much better burnt. Tennyson.
Draff noun
Etymology
The same word as draught. OE. draught, draht, fr. AS. dragan to draw. See Draw, and cf. Draught.
Definitions
  1. The act of drawing; also, the thing drawn. Same as Draught.
    Everything available for draft burden. S. G. Goodrich.
  2. (Mil.) A selecting or detaching of soldiers from an army, or from any part of it, or from a military post; also from any district, or any company or collection of persons, or from the people at large; also, the body of men thus drafted.
    Several of the States had supplied the deficiency by drafts to serve for the year. Marshall.
  3. An order from one person or party to another, directing the payment of money; a bill of exchange.
    I thought it most prudent to deter the drafts till advice was received of the progress of the loan. A. Hamilton.
  4. An allowance or deduction made from the gross veight of goods. Simmonds.
  5. A drawing of lines for a plan; a plan delineated, or drawn in outline; a delineation. See Draught.
  6. The form of any writing as first drawn up; the first rough sketch of written composition, to be filled in, or completed. See Draught.
  7. (Masonry) (a) A narrow border left on a finished stone, worked differently from the rest of its face. (b) A narrow border worked to a plane surface along the edge of a stone, or across its face, as a guide to the stone-cutter.
  8. (Milling) The slant given to the furrows in the dress of a millstone.
  9. (Naut.) Depth of water necessary to float a ship. See Draught.
  10. A current of air. Same as Draught.

Webster 1913