drafting

1. 1
   noununcountable

   The making of technical drawings, such as detailed plans for machines, parts, or buildings.

   The firm's drafting met the strict tolerances required for the aircraft parts.

   Manual drafting has largely given way to computer-aided design.

   Similardraftsmanship, drawing

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of draft.

   The committee is drafting a proposal for the merger.

   He spent the evening drafting his resignation.

   Note

   The -ing form carries every job the verb draft does, not only writing. A committee is drafting a law, a team is drafting a player, a rancher is drafting cattle out of a herd, and in American usage an army is drafting recruits. After be it makes the progressive (is drafting a proposal). As a gerund it takes a direct object (drafting the bill took weeks), which the technical-drawing noun does not.

3. 3
   noununcountable

   The profession concerned with making technical drawings for architecture, engineering, or manufacturing.

   After college he found work in drafting at an architectural firm.

   Drafting as a career changed sharply once automated design tools spread.

4. 4
   noununcountable

   A way to reduce wind resistance in which cyclists or ground vehicle drivers travel in a line, each close behind the one ahead.

   The trailing rider relied on drafting to conserve strength for the final sprint.

   Drafting lets a race car tuck into the low-pressure pocket behind another.

5. 5
   noununcountable

   The withdrawal of water from a pond, river, or other source.

   When no hydrants were available, the department relied on drafting from a farm pond.

   Successful drafting depends on a tight seal in the suction hose.

   Note

   Firefighters use it for taking water from a static source, such as a farm pond, when no pressurized hydrant is available. The pump creates a partial vacuum, and atmospheric pressure pushes the water up the suction hose. That is why a tight hose seal matters, and why the possible lift has a ceiling. The usual construction is drafting from a source: crews draft from a pond, not draft a pond.

6. 6
   noununcountable

   In textile making, a method of treating fibers so that they are ready to be woven.

   Even drafting produces a consistent strand that weaves smoothly.

   The spinner's drafting controlled how thick the finished yarn would be.

   Similardrawing

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