draw out
Britishverb
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to extend or cause to be extended
he drew out his stay
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(tr) to cause (a person) to talk freely
she's been quiet all evening – see if you can draw her out
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Also: draw from. to elicit (information) (from)
he managed to draw out of his son where he had been
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(tr) to withdraw (money) as from a bank account or a business
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(intr) (of hours of daylight) to become longer
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(intr) (of a train) to leave a station
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(tr) to extend (troops) in line; lead from camp
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(intr) (of troops) to proceed from camp
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Pull out, extract, remove, as in She drew out her pen , or Let's draw some money out of the bank . [c. 1300]
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Prolong, protract, as in This meal was drawn out over four hours . The related expression long-drawn-out means “greatly extended or protracted,” as in The dinner was a long-drawn-out affair . [1500s]
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Induce to speak freely, as in The teacher was good at drawing out the children . [Late 1700s]
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.
The rest of “The Rise and Fall of Rational Control,” devoted to German thinkers, draws out the implications of Rousseau’s extraordinary suggestion.
Frank Aureate unlocked it and drew out a much-folded document and a small book.
From Literature
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"There are days where I feel absolutely fine, then I get on stage and it just comes out. Music can really draw out feelings that you didn't know were there."
From BBC
His thought, that a fight and a bit of blood would draw out the Sender sisters if they were in fact monsters, had...worked.
From Literature
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“Hamnet” is not a movie that seeks to bore into the viewers’ hearts, drawing out empathy from the depths of their souls; it’s a film that wants the audience to do all of the work.
From Salon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.