draw

Less common meanings

20. 20
    cardverbtransitive

    To take or be dealt a playing card from the deck; also, to receive a particular hand this way.

    Players draw a card at the start of each turn.

    He drew a pair of kings on the opening deal.

    Similartake, pick, get

    Oppositediscard

    Note

    At the card table it names luck as much as action. Each player must draw a card, but you also draw a pair of kings, meaning that is what the deal gave you. A hand still waiting for one card to complete a flush or straight is itself called a draw, and in dominoes the verb means taking a tile from the stock.

21. 21
    curtainsverbtransitive

    To pull blinds, curtains, or similar coverings open or closed.

    Hotel staff draw the curtains during turndown service each evening.

    She drew the blinds open to let in the morning light.

    UsageDraw the curtains can mean open or close them; add open or closed when it matters.

    Similarpull

    Note

    Railway Magazine in 1944 describes Pullman sleepers whose only privacy was curtains drawn along the aisle, and there they are plainly shut. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • Railway Magazine in 1944 describes Pullman sleepers with curtains along the aisle providing privacy at night; the context indicates closed curtains. en.wiktionary.org
22. 22
    breathe inverbtransitive

    To take air, smoke, or the like into the lungs; to inhale.

    Divers learn to draw slow, even breaths to conserve their air supply.

    He drew the cigar smoke deep into his lungs before answering.

    UsageMostly with breath: draw a deep breath, draw breath.

    Similarinhale, breathe, take, suck

    Oppositeexhale, expel

    Note

    Monty Python's 'draw your terminal breath' (1979) plays on the solemn phrase for the last breath of a life. With smoke as the object it edges toward a smoker's deep drag, but here the stress is on filling the lungs, not on the pipe or cigarette. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • The quoted words occur in Monty Python's song “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.” en.wiktionary.org
    • The quotation dates to 1979, when Life of Brian premiered. montypython.com
23. 23
    nouncountable or uncountable

    The amount of electric current or power a device consumes while it is operating.

    The new graphics card has a power draw of over 300 watts under full load.

    Electricians check the draw of each appliance before adding another circuit.

    UsageOften power draw: a power draw of 300 watts.

    Similarconsumption, load

24. 24
    bathverbtransitive

    To fill a bathtub with water in preparation for a bath; to run a bath.

    The nurse offered to draw a bath for the patient each evening.

    He drew a hot bath and soaked until the water cooled.

    UsageSet phrase draw a bath; run a bath means the same.

    Similarrun, prepare, fill

    Oppositedrain

25. 25
    verbtransitive

    To write out a check, bill or draft authorizing a payment, often followed by on and the person or bank that will pay.

    To settle the claim, the insurance company drew a check on its bank in Chicago.

    Exporters often draw bills on their foreign buyers, who pay when the goods arrive.

    Similarwrite

26. 26
    verbtransitive

    To consume power, as an electrical device or circuit does.

    The space heater draws about 1,500 watts on its high setting.

    Older refrigerators draw far more power than new ones.

    Similaruse, consume

    Note

    Electricians and engineers use it with a measured quantity as the object: a circuit draws three hundred watts, a motor draws so many amps. The picture is of the device pulling current from the supply, which is why the figure matters for fuses and batteries. The noun follows naturally, and people compare appliances by their power draw. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • Electrical power is measured in watts and current in amps; the quantities here are illustrative. open.edu
    • An electrical load draws current from its supply. osha.gov
    • Current draw matters when selecting a fuse. eaton.com
    • A device's power consumption affects battery runtime. data.energizer.com
27. 27
    archeryverbtransitive

    To pull back an arrow or a bowstring in preparation for shooting; also, to bend a bow by pulling back its string.

    Competitors must draw their bows smoothly to keep the sight steady.

    The archer drew the bowstring to her cheek and held her breath.

    Similarpull, bend

    Oppositerelease, loose

    Note

    Archery's word for the whole rearward pull. It takes three different objects: you draw the arrow, draw the string, or draw the bow itself, meaning you bend it. The same word serves as the archer's call "Draw!" and as a noun for the length of the pull, so a range can use one word for the order, the motion and the measurement. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • In archery, a draw is the rearward pulling action. rochdalearchers.com
    • The verb can take arrow, string, or bow as its object; drawing the bow means bending it by pulling its string. en.wiktionary.org
    • Draw is an archery command to pull back the bowstring. en.wiktionary.org
    • The noun draw can denote the distance pulled, supporting the note's distinction between order, motion, and measurement. en.wiktionary.org
28. 28
    verbtransitive

    To exert a physical force, especially gravitational or magnetic, that pulls something closer.

    A strong electromagnet can draw scrap iron from several feet away.

    The moon's gravity draws the ocean's water, creating the tides.

    Similarattract, pull

    Oppositerepel

    Note

    Older natural philosophy used it without an object. Francis Bacon lists stones (pearl, coral, marble, jasper) that 'do not draw', meaning they show no such attraction. Addison turns the same pull on the mind, figuratively, and warns of a natural bias that may 'draw too much'. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Francis Bacon uses 'draw' without an object and lists pearl, coral, marble and jasper among bodies that 'do not draw', referring to physical attraction. en.wiktionary.org
    • Addison figuratively describes a natural mental bias that may 'draw too much'. gutenberg.org
29. 29
    verbintransitive

    To pull deeply on a cigarette, pipe or other smoking implement, used with at or on.

    Between sentences, he would stop to draw on his cigarette until the tip glowed red.

    Leaning against the wall, the old sailor drew slowly on his pipe and said nothing.

    Similarpull, puff

30. 30
    verbtransitive

    To get someone to give information or speak on a subject, now often in the passive.

    The coach would not be drawn on whether he plans to retire.

    Reporters tried to draw the senator on the rumors, but she only smiled.

    UsageOften negative and passive: he would not be drawn on his plans.

    Similarpress

    Note

    It turns up in reports on politicians, coaches and officials who will not say more.

31. 31
    verbobsoletetransitive

    To lengthen something in time, making it last longer.

    Note

    An obsolete use from an older family of meanings about stretching things out. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Draw formerly meant to prolong something, and this sense is obsolete. en.wiktionary.org
    • The temporal sense belongs to the group of meanings concerning extension or stretching. en.wiktionary.org
32. 32
    verbfigurativelytransitive

    Of a ship or boat, to need a certain depth of water in order to float.

    The new freighters draw too much water to enter the old harbor.

    Our sailboat draws only four feet, so we can anchor close to the beach.

    UsageThe object is a depth: the boat draws four feet.

    Note

    The depth a vessel draws is its draft, measured from the waterline down to the lowest point of the hull or keel, and it grows as the ship is loaded. Sailors use it to judge where a vessel can go: a boat that draws little water can cross shallows that would ground a deep-keeled one. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • A vessel's draft measures its depth below the waterline to the bottom of its hull or keel. oceanservice.noaa.gov
    • Loading a ship increases its draft. oceanservice.noaa.gov
    • Draft determines the water depth needed to avoid grounding, allowing vessels with less draft to navigate shallower water. oceanservice.noaa.gov
33. 33
    nouncountable or uncountable

    In golf, a shot that is made to curve to the left, for a right-handed player.

    She shaped a gentle draw around the oak and stopped it ten feet from the pin.

    His natural shot is a draw, so he aims down the right side of the fairway.

    Oppositefade

    Note

    A draw is the controlled cousin of the hook: both bend from right to left for a right-hander, but a draw does so gently and by design, while a hook curves too far. Its mirror image is the fade, and an unwanted big curve the other way is a slice. Golfers shape a draw around trees or play it as their natural shot. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • For a right-handed golfer, a draw curves gently from right to left, while a hook curves substantially in the same direction. blog.ncga.org
    • A draw is controlled and intentional, whereas a hook is generally excessive. en.wikipedia.org
    • A fade curves gently in the opposite direction; a slice curves substantially in that direction. blog.ncga.org
    • Golfers can deliberately shape a draw around trees. golftec.com
    • Some golfers have a natural draw. titleist.com
34. 34
    take asideverbtransitive

    To move someone away from a group in order to speak with them privately; chiefly used with aside or to one side.

    Doctors sometimes draw family members aside to deliver difficult news.

    The manager drew her aside after the meeting to discuss the promotion.

    Similartake, pull, call

35. 35
    nouncountable or uncountable

    The act of pulling a gun or other weapon from its holster or sheath.

    The sheriff beat the outlaw on the draw by half a second.

    She practices her draw every morning at the range.

    UsageSet phrases: quick on the draw, beat someone on the draw; before a noun, quick-draw.

    Note

    Quick on the draw has also become an idiom for anyone fast to react, from a debater to a photographer.

36. 36
    nouncountable or uncountable

    In a job paid by commission, an advance on future commissions that an employer gives an employee.

    New sales reps get a draw of $2,000 a month for their first six months.

    If his commissions don't cover the draw, the shortfall carries over to next month.

    Similaradvance

37. 37
    nouncountable or uncountable

    A small, shallow valley between ridges or spurs, usually dry but carrying runoff after heavy rain.

    The cattle had drifted down into the draw to get out of the wind.

    After the cloudburst, the draw behind the barn ran with muddy water.

    Similargully, gulch, arroyo

    Note

    This draw belongs to open grazing country: a shallow valley between ridges that lies dry most of the year and carries runoff downhill after a storm. Willa Cather's My Ántonia (1918) sends the path to a garden "up a shallow draw past the cattle corral", and in a cold wind cattle drift down into one for shelter. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

    • Draws occur in open grazing country. extension.sdstate.edu
    • A draw is low ground between ridges or spurs. en.wikipedia.org
    • A draw can be shallow and normally dry, carrying water after rainfall. arlis.org
    • Willa Cather wrote My Ántonia, first published in 1918. ibiblio.org
    • The novel describes the route to the garden using the quoted words; this is narration, not spoken dialogue. gutenberg.org
    • Cattle seek shelter from wind in draws. publications.mgcafe.uky.edu
38. 38
    verbintransitive

    Of a flue, a pipe for smoking, or a similar passage: to let air move through it so that burning can go on.

    Open the damper and let the stove draw for a minute before you add more logs.

    The old briar pipe draws smoothly now that he has cleaned out the stem.

    Note

    Here the chimney or pipe is the subject and nothing follows the verb: the stove draws, the pipe draws smoothly. A smoker pulling on that pipe uses a different construction, drawing on or at it. The air moving through a flue this way is its draft, so a fireplace that draws well is simply one with a good draft. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • Draft is the flow through a flue associated with combustion. en.wiktionary.org
39. 39
    verbtransitive or intransitive

    Of tea, to stand in hot water until its flavor grows stronger; also, to steep tea in this way.

    He likes his tea strong, so he leaves the bag in to draw until it turns the color of brick.

    Grandma set the old brown pot on the table to draw while she sliced the bread.

    Similarsteep, brew

    Note

    The idea underneath is extraction: hot water pulls color and strength out of the leaves, much as drawing juice or oil pulls a liquid out of something. Steep and infuse name the same process. The pot can also do the work with no person in the sentence: leave it to draw while you slice the bread. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Preparing tea in hot water involves extracting substances responsible for its color and flavor from the leaves. chem.libretexts.org
    • Steeping and infusion describe the same tea extraction process. uspto.gov
40. 40
    verbtransitive

    To pull a metal rod through one or more holes to make wire; also, to stretch a piece of metal out into wire.

    Some jewelers draw their own silver wire through a steel plate pierced with holes.

    The aluminum rods are drawn down to a fine gauge before being wound onto spools.

    Note

    Here the pull stretches the metal as well as moving it along: a rod forced through a narrower hole comes out longer and thinner, and repeated passes draw it down to a fine gauge. Keep it apart from draw out, the metalworker's hammering verb, which also lengthens and thins a piece, but under the hammer rather than through a die. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Pulling metal through a narrower die makes it longer and thinner. pnnl.gov
    • Repeated drawing through successively smaller dies reduces wire to the desired gauge. en.wikipedia.org
    • Drawing out in forging lengthens and thins metal by hammering rather than pulling it through a die. msvs3-dei.vlabs.ac.in
41. 41
    verb

    To pull a cord, strap or similar thing so that it fits more snugly around something, often with tight.
42. 42
    verb

    To slide a bolt or latch back to open a door or gate, or forward to fasten it.
43. 43
    verb

    To put oneself into a particular stance by pulling the limbs in or stretching them out, as in drawing oneself up.
44. 44
    verb

    To make a body part tighten or shrink, or to twist the face out of its usual shape through strong feeling.
45. 45
    verbarchaic

    To move a person or thing elsewhere, or bring them into a different state.
46. 46
    verbarchaic

    To build something long, such as a wall or canal, so that it runs between two places.

    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
47. 47
    verb

    To put backspin on the cue ball by hitting it low, so that it recoils after striking another ball.
48. 48
    verb

    To roll a bowl so that it curves in toward a chosen spot.
49. 49
    verbarchaic

    In early cricket, to angle the bat and play the ball from the off side round to the leg side, or let it glance off the bat between the batter's legs and the wicket.
50. 50
    verb

    To deliver a stone so that it comes to rest inside the house, the ringed target on the ice.
51. 51
    verb

    In golf, to hit the ball so it curves left for a right-hander, or right for a left-hander, once by accident off the club's toe, now usually on purpose.
52. 52
    verb

    To pull a condemned prisoner over the ground, tied to a horse or laid on a sled, as punishment or on the way to be executed.
53. 53
    verb

    To execute someone by binding their arms and legs to horses driven off in opposite directions so the body is ripped apart.
54. 54
    verb

    To perform a mathematical operation on a number.
55. 55
    verb

    To bring a cast fishing net back in, or to tow one beside a boat.
56. 56
    verbarchaic

    To haul a ship's sail up the mast.
57. 57
    verbdialectalUK

    To transport goods in a cart or wagon.
58. 58
    verbobsolete

    To stitch the edges of a rip together, or to repair a hole in cloth.
59. 59
    verbobsolete

    To harness a work animal such as an ox or horse to pull a plow or cart.
60. 60
    verbobsolete

    To name someone or something as the origin or cause of a thing.
61. 61
    verbobsolete

    To turn one thing into something different.
62. 62
    verbobsolete

    To rework a piece of writing into another form, such as prose into verse, or to render a text in another language.
63. 63
    verbobsolete

    To turn one's thoughts or affections toward a particular person or thing.
64. 64
    verbobsolete

    To call up a quality such as courage or strength within oneself, or to bring out wickedness in oneself.
65. 65
    verbobsolete

    To read or present words as having a particular sense, especially a twisted or misleading one.
66. 66
    verbobsolete

    To press food through a sieve, used with through.
67. 67
    verbobsolete

    To combine one ingredient with others, stirring until the whole becomes smooth and runny or pasty.
68. 68
    verb

    To move in a certain way when pulled.
69. 69
    verbarchaic

    Of a work animal, to pull a load such as a plow or cart, or to have the strength to do so.
70. 70
    verbarchaic

    Of a plow or vehicle, to move in a particular way when pulled.
71. 71
    verbarchaic

    To tighten up and become smaller.
72. 72
    verbarchaicScotland

    To cooperate toward a shared goal, or to get along well with someone.
73. 73
    verbobsolete

    To trail along behind, being pulled.
74. 74
    verb

    To produce something as a result or lead to it happening.
75. 75
    verb

    To bring trouble or harm upon oneself, used with on or upon.
76. 76
    verb

    To be handed a stated term in jail or prison by a court, as in 'he drew five years.'
77. 77
    verb

    To pull air into a room, duct or passage by suction.
78. 78
    verb

    To attract enemy shooting, whether on purpose or by accident.
79. 79
    verb

    To pull in a person or a crowd by being appealing, or to act as a lure.
80. 80
    verb

    To gulp down a drink, especially liquor.
81. 81
    verb

    Of people, to gather or crowd together in one place, usually used with about or around.
82. 82
    verb

    To lengthen or stretch something out.
83. 83
    verb

    To beat a piece of metal flat and thin, used with out.
84. 84
    verbobsolete

    To come to a given total or quantity.
85. 85
    verbobsolete

    To torture or punish someone by stretching their body on a rack.
86. 86
    verb

    To become longer or more stretched out.
87. 87
    verb

    In thatching, to pull handfuls of straw between the fingers until the stems lie straight and even.
88. 88
    verb

    Of a sail, to swell out and pull firmly as the breeze fills it.
89. 89
    verbobsolete

    To spread out or reach across an area.
90. 90
    verb

    To pull out a tooth.
91. 91
    verb

    To get juice, oil or another liquid out of something, for example by pressing it.
92. 92
    verb

    To pour beer or another drink from a barrel by a tap or pump.
93. 93
    verb

    To absorb liquid or other matter, especially of a plant or other living thing taking in water and nutrients.
94. 94
    verb

    Of a ditch or drain, to channel water away.
95. 95
    verb

    To cut out a condemned person's bowels as part of an execution, typically after hanging, as the old penalty for treason.
96. 96
    verb

    To take out the guts of a bird or other animal so it can be cooked.
97. 97
    verb

    To haul coal or ore up from a mine.
98. 98
    verb

    To run a lottery or pick its winning numbers or tickets.
99. 99
    verb

    To take out everything inside something, chiefly an oven or kiln.
100. 100
     verbarchaic

     To take something back, such as a bet in gambling or a horse entered in a race.

     Go, wash thy face, and draw thy action.

     1591, William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt,”
101. 101
     verbarchaicUK

     Of a crop or plant, to exhaust land or soil by taking up its nourishment.
102. 102
     verb

     To pick out certain sheep from a flock, as for breeding or sale.
103. 103
     verb

     To catch fish by pulling a net through water or along a shore.
104. 104
     verb

     To go through a wood or thicket looking for a fox or other quarry during a hunt.
105. 105
     verb

     To finish a game or match without a winner.
106. 106
     verb

     In cricket, to finish a match without a winner because time runs out before the side batting last completes its innings.
107. 107
     verb

     To divide machine-made lace into pieces by pulling out the threads that join them.
108. 108
     verbdialectalNorthernScotland

     To milk a cow.
109. 109
     verbobsolete

     To get seeds out of clover or trefoil husks, or to strip these plants of their seed.
110. 110
     verbobsolete

     In cricket, to get a batsman out and so claim a wicket.
111. 111
     verbobsolete

     In falconry, to bring a hawk out of its mews once it has finished molting.
112. 112
     verbobsolete

     To pick someone's pocket or steal from a person or place.
113. 113
     verb

     Of a ditch or culvert, to lead off surplus water so the ground stays dry.
114. 114
     verb

     Of water or another fluid, to soak slowly through soil or a filter and pass off.
115. 115
     verbarchaic

     To pull pus or other matter out of a wound toward the skin's surface, for example with a poultice, so it can be cleared.
116. 116
     verb

     In dominoes, to pick up a tile from the unused pile.
117. 117
     verbobsolete

     To pour beer or other drink from casks in an inn, or to work serving drinks there.
118. 118
     verbarchaic

     Of hunters or hounds, to go through cover looking for game or following a quarry's trail.

     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
119. 119
     verb

     To shape wood or another material by shaving off thin strips.
120. 120
     verb

     To put a picture of someone or something into spoken or written words.
121. 121
     verb

     To open up a long groove in a field with a plow.
122. 122
     verbobsolete

     To work out or put together a plan or arrangement.
123. 123
     verbobsolete

     To make a statue or other solid likeness of something, as by modeling or carving.
124. 124
     interjection

     An instruction for archers to haul their bowstrings back and prepare to shoot.
125. 125
     noun

     In archery, the pulling back of the bowstring before a shot, or how far it is pulled back.
126. 126
     noun

     In cricket, the outcome when a match of two innings a side ends undecided because time ran out before a side finished batting, unlike a tie.
127. 127
     noun

     Something drawn out, such as money taken from an account.
128. 128
     noun

     The upward movement of smoke and gases through a chimney or flue, often controlled by a damper.
129. 129
     noun

     Backspin or a twist put on a ball, as in billiards, by a stroke struck below its center.
130. 130
     noun

     In curling, a gentle throw aimed to stop within the rings at the far end rather than to knock other stones away.
131. 131
     nounslang

     A bag or packet containing marijuana.
132. 132
     nounslang

     Marijuana, a drug made from the cannabis plant.
133. 133
     noun

     In poker, a hand that is one card short of a flush or a straight and needs another card to complete it.
134. 134
     noun

     In horse racing, the numbered starting stall a horse is given at the beginning of a race.