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drawl

American  
[drawl] / drɔl /

verb (used with or without object)

drawls, present (3rd person singular) drawled, past participle, past drawling present participle
  1. to say or speak in a slow manner, usually prolonging the vowels.


noun

  1. an act or utterance of a person who drawls.

drawl British  
/ drɔːl /

verb

  1. to speak or utter (words) slowly, esp prolonging the vowel sounds

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. the way of speech of someone who drawls

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Etymology

Origin of drawl

1590–1600; < Dutch or Low German dralen to linger

Explanation

A drawl is a distinctively slow, drawn-out way of talking that's especially common in the U.S. South. A writer might describe a cowboy as speaking in a lazy drawl. A drawl tends to lengthen and extend vowel sounds in particular, so that words like "pet" or "pen" might be pronounced with two syllables, rather than one short one. While the Southern states are best known for inhabitants with drawls, Australian and New Zealand natives are also sometimes said to drawl. The word probably stems from the Dutch dralen, "delay" or "linger."

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Vocabulary lists containing drawl

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

At another window Mildred saw Harding; at a third, her maid; at a fourth, Harding's assistant, Drawl; at a fifth, three servants of the retinue.

From The Price She Paid by Phillips, David Graham

Should you see anything you wish at some shop where he has no account, you can have it sent collect, and I or my assistant, Mr. Drawl, will settle for it.

From The Price She Paid by Phillips, David Graham

Squire Drawl told me she read every word of the will aloud, and never signed her name better.

From McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader by McGuffey, William Holmes

Squire Drawl knows how things should be done, though he is as air-tight as one of your beer barrels.

From McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader by McGuffey, William Holmes

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