draws

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of draw.

   The artist draws inspiration from old folk tales.

   A strong magnet draws iron filings toward its surface.

   Note

   The -s form goes with he, she, it and singular nouns, and every other present-tense subject takes bare draw. Most of its pulling senses want an object: she draws the curtains, he draws the bolt. One of them likes tight after it, as in he draws the belt tight. The same spelling doubles as the plural noun, and what follows it tells the two apart.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of draw.

   The tournament produced several draws where neither side could break through.

   Ticket sales climbed ahead of the big prize draws.

   Note

   One spelling covers a whole family of nouns: tied contests, lottery results, crowd-pullers, the drawing of a pistol from its holster. Cricket uses the word precisely. Its draws are two-innings matches left unfinished when time runs out, and the game keeps them distinct from ties. The same letters also spell the present-tense verb and the slang word for underwear, so the surrounding words do the sorting.

3. 3
   nounslangplural

   Underwear, especially the underpants worn beneath outer clothing.

   He grabbed a few pairs of draws from the discount bin.

   She tossed her dirty draws into the laundry basket.

   Similardrawers

   Note

   A slang clipping of drawers that, like drawers, exists only in the plural: his draws are dirty, a pair of draws. It lives in casual talk and lively dialogue, often with a mocking adjective attached, such as funky or holey. Cecil R. Cross II uses it for comic crudeness in Next Semester (2010). In formal writing, drawers or underwear is the safe choice.

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