draw
/dɹɔː/ verb, interjection, noun
Forms draws drawing drew drawn drawest drewest draweth drawe
- verb (transitive, often formal) To pull (someone or something) in a particular direction or manner. “He drew a sheaf of papers from his bag.”
- verb (transitive) To move (a body part) in a particular direction. “She settled in the window seat, drawing her leg up beneath her.”
- verb (transitive) Often followed by tight: to pull (something, such as a belt or string) so that it tightens or wraps around something more closely. “She took a deep breath and drew her corset-strings.”
- verb (transitive) To drag (something), especially along the ground.
- verb (transitive) To pull (blinds, a curtain, etc.) open or closed. “She drew the curtains to let in the sunlight.”
- verb (transitive) To pull out (a bolt or latch) to unlock a door, gate, etc.; also, to push in (a bolt or latch) to lock a door, gate, etc.
- verb (transitive) Chiefly followed by aside or to one side: to move (someone) away from a group of people in order to speak to them privately.
- verb (transitive, reflexive) To assume a specific attitude or position, either by pulling in or stretching out one's body or limbs. “He drew himself to his full height and glowered at the interloper.”
- interjection (archery) Pull back your bowstring in preparation to shoot.
- noun That which draws: that which attracts e.g. a crowd.
- noun The act of drawing a gun from a holster, etc. “the Wild West's quick-draw champion”
- noun The procedure by which the result of a lottery is determined. “The draw is on Saturday.”
- noun (archery) The act of pulling back the strings in preparation of firing; the distance the strings are pulled back.
- noun The result of a contest that neither side has won. “The game ended in a draw.”
- noun (cricket) The result of a two-innings match in which at least one side did not complete all their innings before time ran out (as distinguished from a tie).
- noun That which is drawn (e.g. funds from an account).
- noun In a commission-based job, an advance on future (potential) commissions given to an employee by the employer.
Synonyms
tug yank attract hale heave lug pull schlep haul drag attach impute lay accredit ascribe attribute chalk up to charge put down to repose drawing card attraction attractor attracter standoff tie lot hook hooking draw play
Etymology
The verb is derived from Middle English dragen, draghen, draue, drauen, drauhen, drawe, drawen, draȝe, draȝen, draȝhenn (“to drag, pull; to draw (out); to attract; to entice, lure; to lead; to make a drawing; to move, travel; etc.”), from Old English dragan (“to drag, draw”), from Proto-West Germanic *dragan (“to carry, haul”), from Proto-Germanic *draganą (“to carry, draw, pull”); further etymology uncertain, often said to be from Proto-Indo-European *dʰregʰ- (“to drag, pull, run”), but possibly from a non-Indo-European substrate root which is also the source of Latin trahō (“to pull, draw; etc.”). Doublet of drag and draught.
The noun is derived from Middle English drau, draue (“action of shooting with a bow”), from drauen, drawen (verb).
Cognate with North Frisian drai, dreeg, dreege (“to carry; to wear”), West Frisian drage (“to carry”), Central Franconian draan, drage, droon (“to bear, carry”), Dutch dragen (“to carry; to wear; to transfer”), German tragen (“to bear, carry; to wear; to support”), Low German dregen (“to carry, take”), Luxembourgish droen (“to carry; to hold, support; to wear; to travel; to fruit”), Yiddish טראָגן (trogn, “to carry, to wear; to be pregnant”), Zealandic draege, draoge (“to carry”), Danish drage (“to draw”), Elfdalian drågå (“to drag, draw, pull”), Faroese and Icelandic draga (“to drag, draw, pull”), Gutnish dräga (“to pull”), Norwegian Bokmål dra, drage (“to drag, draw, pull”), Norwegian Nynorsk dra, draga, drage, drågå, dråggå (“to drag, pull; to leave”), Swedish dra, draga (“to draw, pull; to consume; to leave; to run; to steep”), Gothic 𐌳𐍂𐌰𐌲𐌰𐌽 (dragan, “to carry, draw, pull”); also Old Irish droch (“wheel; circlet”), Latin tragō, trahō (“to drag, pull; to trail; to extract; to plunder; to draw out; to protract; to consider, ponder, weigh”), Greek τρέχω (trécho, “to run; to flee; to flow; to execute”), Russian дро́га (dróga, “rail or perch in a cart”), Armenian դուրգ (durg, “to potter’s wheel”).
Webster’s 1913
- verb 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.
- verb 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.
- verb 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.
- verb To draw a liquid from some receptacle, as water from a well.
Etymology [OE. dra, 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. Drag, Dray a cart, 1st Dredge.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “draw”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details