draft

American  

[draft, drahft] / dræft, drɑft /

especially British, draught

noun

1. a drawing, sketch, or design.

2. a first or preliminary form of any writing, subject to revision, copying, etc.

3. the act of drawing; delineation.

4. a current of air in any enclosed space, especially in a room, chimney, or stove.

5. a current of air moving in an upward or downward direction.

6. a device for regulating the current of air in a stove, fireplace, etc.

7. an act of drawing or pulling loads.

8. something that is drawn or pulled; a haul.

9. an animal or team of animals used to pull a load.

10. the force required to pull a load.

11. the taking of supplies, forces, money, etc., from a given source.

12. a selection or drawing of persons, by lot or otherwise, from the general body of the people for military service; levy; conscription.

13. the persons so selected.

14. Sports. a selecting or drawing of new players from a choice group of amateur players by professional teams, especially a system of selecting new players so that each team in a professional league receives some of the most promising players.

15. British. a selection of persons already in military service to be sent from one post or organization to another; detachment.

16. a written order drawn by one person upon another; a writing directing the payment of money on account of the drawer; bill of exchange.

17. a drain or demand made on anything.

18. draft beer.

19. an act of drinking or inhaling.

20. something that is taken in by drinking or inhaling; a drink; dose.

21. a quantity of fish caught.

22. Nautical. the depth to which a vessel is immersed when bearing a given load.

23. Also called leave.  Metallurgy. the slight taper given to a pattern so that it may be drawn from the sand without injury to the mold.

24. Metalworking.

    1. the change in sectional area of a piece of work caused by a rolling or drawing operation.

    2. a taper on a die or punch permitting it to be withdrawn readily from the work.

25. Masonry. a line or border chiseled at the edge of a stone, to serve as a guide in leveling the surfaces.

26. Textiles.

    1. the degree of attenuation produced in fibers during yarn processing, expressed either by the ratio of the weight of raw fiber to the weight of processed fiber, or by the ratio between the varying surface speeds of the rollers on the carding machine.

    2. the act of attenuating the fibers.

27. an allowance granted to a buyer for waste of goods sold by weight.

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verb (used with object)

1. to draw the outlines or plan of; sketch.

2. to draw up in written form; compose.

3. to draw or pull.

4. to take or select by draft, especially for military service.

5. Masonry. to cut a draft on.

verb (used without object)

1. to do mechanical drawing; work as a draftsman.

2. (in a race) to drive or ride close behind another car or bicycle so as to benefit from the reduction in air pressure created behind it.

adjective

1. used or suited for drawing loads.

   These oxen are fine draft animals.

2. drawn or available to be drawn from a cask rather than served from a sealed bottle.

   draft ale.

3. being a tentative or preliminary outline, version, design, or sketch.

idioms

1. on draft, available to be drawn from a cask rather than from a sealed bottle.

   imported beer on draft.

draft British  

/ drɑːft /

noun

1. a plan, sketch, or drawing of something

2. a preliminary outline of a book, speech, etc

3. another word for bill of exchange

4. a demand or drain on something

5. the divergent duct leading from a water turbine to its tailrace

6. selection for compulsory military service

7. detachment of military personnel from one unit to another

8. commerce an allowance on merchandise sold by weight

9. a line or narrow border that is chiselled on the surface of a stone to serve as a guide for levelling it

10. a group of livestock separated from the rest of the herd or flock

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verb

1. to draw up an outline or sketch for something

   to draft a speech

2. to prepare a plan or design of

3. to detach (military personnel) from one unit to another

4. to select for compulsory military service

5. to chisel a draft on (stone, etc)

6. 1. to select (cattle or sheep) from a herd or flock

   2. to select (farm stock) for sale

noun

1. the usual US spelling of draught draught draught draught draught draught draught draught draught

draft ¹ Cultural  

1. A preliminary version of a book, speech, essay, or outline.

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draft ² Cultural  

1. A system for selecting young men for compulsory military service, administered in the United States by the Selective Service System. At present the United States relies on a volunteer military and does not have a draft, though young men are required by law to register with the Selective Service. (See also conscientious objector and draft dodger.)

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Other Word Forms

• antidraft
  adjective
• draftable
  adjective
• drafter
  noun
• predraft
  noun
• redraft
  verb (used with object)
• undraftable
  adjective
• undrafted
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of draft

Later spelling of draught (since 16th century)

Explanation

Draft means to draw, both in the sense of sketching an image onto paper, but also in terms of pulling — a draft horse draws a wagon, a draft of air is drawn into your lungs when you take a breath. A cold draft is a current of cold air being drawn indoors. To draft someone into the army means to draw them into service, or make them serve. When you are drafting, or writing, a draft of a paper on the military draft in the U.S., you want to let your ideas flow freely. Then, in your next draft, you can work on filling in holes and edit the language down to what you really want to say.

Example Sentences

The review of the draft executive order “hasn’t been a really transparent process,” said James Lewis, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank.

From MarketWatch • May 21, 2026

He suggested that was not because the draft order was too easy on U.S.

From MarketWatch • May 21, 2026

And Hyde ended his final scouting report on Rice before the draft with five simple words: “This guy is a Yankee.”

From The Wall Street Journal • May 21, 2026

Computers — and all other digital screens — would be banned for Los Angeles public school students until second grade, according to a draft plan to limit screen time.

From Los Angeles Times • May 20, 2026

“That’s great! I knew I saw something special in you. I’ve had this concert on the books ever since that day. Did you draft a rider?”

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Related Words

• design
• devise
• draw up
• forge
• outline
• prepare