draw Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a gully that is shallower than a ravine
  2. noun an entertainer who attracts large audiences
    attraction; drawing card; attracter; attractor.
    • he was the biggest drawing card they had
  3. noun the finish of a contest in which the score is tied and the winner is undecided
    tie; standoff.
    • the game ended in a draw
    • their record was 3 wins, 6 losses and a tie
  4. noun anything (straws or pebbles etc.) taken or chosen at random
    lot.
    • the luck of the draw
    • they drew lots for it
  5. noun a playing card or cards dealt or taken from the pack
    • he got a pair of kings in the draw
  6. noun a golf shot that curves to the left for a right-handed golfer
    hook; hooking.
    • he took lessons to cure his hooking
  7. noun (American football) the quarterback moves back as if to pass and then hands the ball to the fullback who is running toward the line of scrimmage
    draw play.
  8. noun poker in which a player can discard cards and receive substitutes from the dealer
    draw poker.
    • he played only draw and stud
  9. noun the act of drawing or hauling something
    haulage; haul.
    • the haul up the hill went very slowly
  10. verb cause to move by pulling
    pull; force.
    • draw a wagon
    • pull a sled
  11. verb get or derive
    reap.
    • He drew great benefits from his membership in the association
  12. verb make a mark or lines on a surface
    delineate; describe; line; trace.
    • draw a line
    • trace the outline of a figure in the sand
  13. verb make, formulate, or derive in the mind
    make.
    • I draw a line here
    • draw a conclusion
    • draw parallels
    • make an estimate
    • What do you make of his remarks?
  14. verb bring, take, or pull out of a container or from under a cover
    take out; pull; pull out; get out.
    • draw a weapon
    • pull out a gun
    • The mugger pulled a knife on his victim
  15. verb represent by making a drawing of, as with a pencil, chalk, etc. on a surface
    • She drew an elephant
    • Draw me a horse
  16. verb take liquid out of a container or well
    take out.
    • She drew water from the barrel
  17. verb give a description of
    describe; depict.
    • He drew an elaborate plan of attack
  18. verb select or take in from a given group or region
    • The participants in the experiment were drawn from a representative population
  19. verb elicit responses, such as objections, criticism, applause, etc.
    • The President's comments drew sharp criticism from the Republicans
    • The comedian drew a lot of laughter
  20. verb suck in or take (air)
    puff; drag.
    • draw a deep breath
    • draw on a cigarette
  21. verb move or go steadily or gradually
    • The ship drew near the shore
  22. verb remove (a commodity) from (a supply source)
    take out; draw off; withdraw.
    • She drew $2,000 from the account
    • The doctors drew medical supplies from the hospital's emergency bank
  23. verb choose at random
    cast.
    • draw a card
    • cast lots
  24. verb earn or achieve a base by being walked by the pitcher
    get.
    • He drew a base on balls
  25. verb bring or lead someone to a certain action or condition
    • She was drawn to despair
    • The President refused to be drawn into delivering an ultimatum
    • The session was drawn to a close
  26. verb cause to flow
    • The nurse drew blood
  27. verb write a legal document or paper
    • The deed was drawn in the lawyer's office
  28. verb engage in drawing
    • He spent the day drawing in the garden
  29. verb move or pull so as to cover or uncover something
    • draw the shades
    • draw the curtains
  30. verb allow a draft
    • This chimney draws very well
  31. verb require a specified depth for floating
    • This boat draws 70 inches
  32. verb pull (a person) apart with four horses tied to his extremities, so as to execute him
    quarter; draw and quarter.
    • in the old days, people were drawn and quartered for certain crimes
  33. verb cause to move in a certain direction by exerting a force upon, either physically or in an abstract sense
    pull.
    • A declining dollar pulled down the export figures for the last quarter
  34. verb take in, also metaphorically
    take up; imbibe; absorb; soak up; take in; suck up; suck; sop up.
    • The sponge absorbs water well
    • She drew strength from the minister's words
  35. verb direct toward itself or oneself by means of some psychological power or physical attributes
    pull; pull in; draw in; attract.
    • Her good looks attract the stares of many men
    • The ad pulled in many potential customers
    • This pianist pulls huge crowds
    • The store owner was happy that the ad drew in many new customers
  36. verb thread on or as if on a string
    string; thread.
    • string pearls on a string
    • the child drew glass beads on a string
    • thread dried cranberries
  37. verb stretch back a bowstring (on an archer's bow)
    pull back.
    • The archers were drawing their bows
  38. verb pass over, across, or through
    run; guide; pass.
    • He ran his eyes over her body
    • She ran her fingers along the carved figurine
    • He drew her hair through his fingers
  39. verb finish a game with an equal number of points, goals, etc.
    tie.
    • The teams drew a tie
  40. verb contract
    • The material drew after it was washed in hot water
  41. verb reduce the diameter of (a wire or metal rod) by pulling it through a die
    • draw wire
  42. verb steep; pass through a strainer
    • draw pulp from the fruit
  43. verb remove the entrails of
    eviscerate; disembowel.
    • draw a chicken
  44. verb flatten, stretch, or mold metal or glass, by rolling or by pulling it through a die or by stretching
    • draw steel
  45. verb cause to localize at one point
    • Draw blood and pus

WordNet

Draw transitive verb
Etymology
OE. draen, drahen, draien, drawen, AS. dragan; akin to Icel. & Sw. draga, Dan. drage to draw, carry, and prob. to OS. dragan to bear, carry, D. dragen, G. tragen, Goth. dragan; cf. Skr. dhraj to move along, glide; and perh. akin to Skr. dhar to hold, bear. . Cf. 2d Drag, Dray a cart, 1st Dredge.
Wordforms
imperfect Drew ; past participle Drawn ; present participle & verbal noun Drawing
Definitions
  1. To cause to move continuously by force applied in advance of the thing moved; to pull along; to haul; to drag; to cause to follow.
    He cast him down to ground, and all along Drew him through dirt and mire without remorse. Spenser.
    He hastened to draw the stranger into a private room. Sir W. Scott.
    Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? James ii. 6.
    The arrow is now drawn to the head. Atterbury.
  2. To influence to move or tend toward one's self; to exercise an attracting force upon; to call towards itself; to attract; hence, to entice; to allure; to induce.
    The poet Did feign that Orpheus drew trees, stones, and floods. Shak.
    All eyes you draw, and with the eyes the heart. Dryden.
  3. To cause to come out for one's use or benefit; to extract; to educe; to bring forth; as: (a) To bring or take out, or to let out, from some receptacle, as a stick or post from a hole, water from a cask or well, etc.
    The drew out the staves of the ark. 2 Chron. v. 9.
    Draw thee waters for the siege. Nahum iii. 14.
    I opened the tumor by the point of a lancet without drawing one drop of blood. Wiseman.
    (b) To pull from a sheath, as a sword.
    I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. Ex. xv. 9.
    (c) To extract; to force out; to elicit; to derive.
    Spirits, by distillations, may be drawn out of vegetable juices, which shall flame and fume of themselves. Cheyne.
    Until you had drawn oaths from him. Shak.
    (d) To obtain from some cause or origin; to infer from evidence or reasons; to deduce from premises; to derive.
    We do not draw the moral lessons we might from history. Burke.
    (e) To take or procure from a place of deposit; to call for and receive from a fund, or the like; as, to draw money from a bank. (f) To take from a box or wheel, as a lottery ticket; to receive from a lottery by the drawing out of the numbers for prizes or blanks; hence, to obtain by good fortune; to win; to gain; as, he drew a prize. (g) To select by the drawing of lots.
    Provided magistracies were filled by men freely chosen or drawn. Freeman.
  4. To remove the contents of; as: (a) To drain by emptying; to suck dry.
    Sucking and drawing the breast dischargeth the milk as fast as it can generated. Wiseman.
    (b) To extract the bowels of; to eviscerate; as, to draw a fowl; to hang, draw, and quarter a criminal.
    In private draw your poultry, clean your tripe. King.
  5. To take into the lungs; to inhale; to inspire; hence, also, to utter or produce by an inhalation; to heave. "Where I first drew air." Milton.
    Drew, or seemed to draw, a dying groan. Dryden.
  6. To extend in length; to lengthen; to protract; to stretch; to extend, as a mass of metal into wire.
    How long her face is drawn! Shak.
    And the huge Offa's dike which he drew from the mouth of Wye to that of Dee. J. R. Green.
  7. To run, extend, or produce, as a line on any surface; hence, also, to form by marking; to make by an instrument of delineation; to produce, as a sketch, figure, or picture.
  8. To represent by lines drawn; to form a sketch or a picture of; to represent by a picture; to delineate; hence, to represent by words; to depict; to describe.
    A flattering painter who made it his care To draw men as they ought to be, not as they are. Goldsmith.
    Can I, untouched, the fair one's passions move, Or thou draw beauty and not feel its power? Prior.
  9. To write in due form; to prepare a draught of; as, to draw a memorial, a deed, or bill of exchange.
    Clerk, draw a deed of gift. Shak.
  10. To require (so great a depth, as of water) for floating; -- said of a vessel; to sink so deep in (water); as, a ship draws ten feet of water.
  11. To withdraw. Obs. Chaucer.
    Go wash thy face, and draw the action. Shak.
  12. To trace by scent; to track; -- a hunting term. ✍ Draw, in most of its uses, retains some shade of its original sense, to pull, to move forward by the application of force in advance, or to extend in length, and usually expresses an action as gradual or continuous, and leisurely. We pour liquid quickly, but we draw it in a continued stream. We force compliance by threats, but we draw it by gradual prevalence. We may write a letter with haste, but we draw a bill with slow caution and regard to a precise form. We draw a bar of metal by continued beating. Dryden. Syn. -- To Draw, Drag. Draw differs from drag in this, that drag implies a natural inaptitude for drawing, or positive resistance; it is applied to things pulled or hauled along the ground, or moved with toil or difficulty. Draw is applied to all bodies moved by force in advance, whatever may be the degree of force; it commonly implies that some kind of aptitude or provision exists for drawing. Draw is the more general or generic term, and drag the more specific. We say, the horses draw a coach or wagon, but they drag it through mire; yet draw is properly used in both cases.
Draw intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To pull; to exert strength in drawing anything; to have force to move anything by pulling; as, a horse draws well; the sails of a ship draw well. ✍ A sail is said to draw when it is filled with wind.
  2. To draw a liquid from some receptacle, as water from a well.
    The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. John iv. 11.
  3. To exert an attractive force; to act as an inducement or enticement.
    Keep a watch upon the particular bias of their minds, that it may not draw too much. Addison.
  4. (Med.) To have efficiency as an epispastic; to act as a sinapism; -- said of a blister, poultice, etc.
  5. To have draught, as a chimney, flue, or the like; to furnish transmission to smoke, gases, etc.
  6. To unsheathe a weapon, especially a sword.
    So soon as ever thou seest him, draw; and as thou drawest, swear horrible. Shak.
  7. To perform the act, or practice the art, of delineation; to sketch; to form figures or pictures. "Skill in drawing." Locke.
  8. To become contracted; to shrink. "To draw into less room." Bacon.
  9. To move; to come or go; literally, to draw one's self; -- with prepositions and adverbs; as, to draw away, to move off, esp. in racing, to get in front; to obtain the lead or increase it; to draw back, to retreat; to draw level, to move up even (with another); to come up to or overtake another; to draw off, to retire or retreat; to draw on, to advance; to draw up, to form in array; to draw near, nigh, or towards, to approach; to draw together, to come together, to collect.
  10. To make a draft or written demand for payment of money deposited or due; -- usually with on or upon.
    You may draw on me for the expenses of your journey. Jay.
  11. To admit the action of pulling or dragging; to undergo draught; as, a carriage draws easily.
  12. To sink in water; to require a depth for floating. "Greater hulks draw deep." Shak.
Draw noun
Definitions
  1. The act of drawing; draught.
  2. A lot or chance to be drawn.
  3. A drawn game or battle, etc. Colloq.
  4. That part of a bridge which may be raised, swung round, or drawn aside; the movable part of a drawbridge. See the Note under Drawbridge. U.S.

Webster 1913