draft

English Online Dictionary. What means draft‎? What does draft mean?

English

Alternative forms

• draught (British spelling of many senses, but not all)

Etymology

A phonetic spelling of draught (compare laughter), from Middle English draught, draght (“that which is pulled; that which is drawn up, a design”), from Old English *dreaht, *dræht, from Proto-West Germanic *drahti, *drahtu, from Proto-Germanic *drahtuz (“a pulling, drawing”), equivalent to draw (“to draw, drag”) +‎ -t. Cognate with Dutch dracht, German Tracht, Icelandic dráttur.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɹɑːft/

  Rhymes: -ɑːft

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /dɹæft/

  Rhymes: -æft

Noun

draft (countable and uncountable, plural drafts)

1. (American spelling)
   1. A current of air, usually coming into a room or vehicle.
   2. The draw through a flue of gasses or smoke resulting from a combustion process.
   3. An act of drinking.
   4. The quantity of liquid (such as water, alcohol, or medicine) drunk in one swallow.

      Synonyms: swig; see also Thesaurus:drink

   5. A dose (of medicine, alcohol, etc.).
   6. Liquid, especially beer or other alcohol, drawn from a cask or keg rather than a bottle or can.
   7. (nautical) The depth of water needed to float a particular ship; the depth from the waterline to the bottom of a vessel's hull; the depth of water drawn by a vessel.
2. (Universal spelling)
   1. A version of a written work (such as a book or paper) or drawing.
   2. An unsent e-mail.
   3. A preliminary sketch or outline for a plan.
   4. A cheque; an order for money to be paid.
3. (US, Canada, usually with the) Conscription; the system of forcing people to serve in the military.

4. A person who has been drafted; a conscript or draftee.
5. (politics, US) A system of forcing or convincing people to take an elected position.
6. (sports, US) A system of assigning rookie players to professional sports teams.
7. (American spelling, rail transport) The pulling force (tension) on couplers and draft gear during a slack (stretched) condition.
8. The bevel given to the pattern for a casting, so that it can be drawn from the sand without damaging the mould.
9. (American spelling, possibly archaic)
   1. The action or an act (especially of a beast of burden or vehicle) of pulling something along or back.
   2. The act of drawing in a net for fish.
   3. That which is drawn in; a catch; a haul.

10. (British English, possibly archaic) A quantity that is requisitioned or drawn out from a larger population.
11. (Appalachia)
    1. A small stream or tributary.
       • 1801, Surveys 43, page 428, quoted in 1940, George Davis McJimsey, Topographic Terms in Virginia, page 63:

         Crossing several ridges & hollows & two small drafts of water.

       • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:draft.
    2. (especially Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania) A ravine or narrow valley, especially one through which a stream (at least intermittently) flows.
12. (gaming) A style of play in collectible card games, where players select from a shared pool of cards.

Usage notes

Although draft is usually an American spelling, senses 8–10 are universal, being used in both British and American English. Senses 11–13 are used in American English only. Where a particular sense is an American spelling, it is spelt draught in British English.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

draft (third-person singular simple present drafts, present participle drafting, simple past and past participle drafted)

1. (transitive) To write a first version; to make a preliminary sketch.
2. To draw in outline; to make a draught, sketch, or plan of, as in architectural and mechanical drawing.
3. To write a law.
4. To select (someone or something) for a particular role or purpose.
   1. (transitive, US) To conscript (a person); to force (a person) to serve in some capacity, especially in the military.

   2. To select and separate an animal or animals from a group.

   3. (transitive, sports, US) To select a rookie player onto a professional sports team.

5. (ambitransitive) To follow very closely (behind another vehicle), thereby providing an aerodynamic advantage to both lead and follower and conserving energy or increasing speed.

   Synonym: slipstream
6. To draw out; to call forth.
7. To draw fibers out of a clump, for spinning in the production of yarn.
8. (gaming) To play a collectible card game by selecting from a shared pool of cards.

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

draft (not comparable) (American spelling)

1. (not comparable) Referring to drinks on tap, in contrast to bottled.

2. Referring to animals used for pulling heavy loads.

Translations

Related terms

• draw

Further reading

• “draft”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “draft”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• Michael B. Montgomery, Jennifer K. N. Heinmiller, Dictionary of Southern Appalachian English (2021), draft: "A small stream or a tributary of one", "A ravine or gully through which water intermittently flows or once flowed"
• DARE Survey (Marlinton WV, 1968): "a very narrow valley"
• Charles Forster Smith, On Southernisms (1886), draught: "valley of a stream smaller than a creek"
• Josiah Combs, A word-list from the Southern highlands (1944): "a brook or small stream"

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English draft.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dʁaft/

Noun

draft m or f (plural drafts)

1. (sports) draft

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From English draw.

Noun

draft n (definite singular draftet, indefinite plural draft or drafter, definite plural drafta or draftene)

1. nautical chart

Usage notes

Although this word is in common use, it is noted as a misnomer, see references.

Synonyms

• sjøkart
• kystkart

References

• “draft” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From English draw.

Noun

draft n (definite singular draftet, indefinite plural draft, definite plural drafta)
draft f (definite singular drafta, indefinite plural drafter, definite plural draftene)

1. nautical chart

Usage notes

Although this word is in common use, it is noted as a misnomer, see Bokmål references.

Synonyms

• sjøkart
• kystkart

References

• “draft” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Spanish

Noun

draft m (plural drafts)

1. draft (in sports)

Yola

Noun

draft

1. alternative form of draught

References

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 36