Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To cause to move after or toward one by applying continuous force; drag: synonym: pull.
  • intransitive verb To cause to move in a given direction or to a given position, as by leading.
  • intransitive verb To move or pull so as to cover or uncover something.
  • intransitive verb To cause to flow forth.
  • intransitive verb To suck or take in (air, for example); inhale.
  • intransitive verb To require (a specified depth of water) for floating.
  • intransitive verb To take or pull out.
  • intransitive verb To extract or take for one's own use.
  • intransitive verb To make (tea) by steeping.
  • intransitive verb To eviscerate; disembowel.
  • intransitive verb To cause to come by attracting; attract.
  • intransitive verb To select or take in from a given group, type, or region.
  • intransitive verb To bring to a certain condition or action; lead.
  • intransitive verb To bring about deliberately; provoke.
  • intransitive verb To evoke as a response; elicit.
  • intransitive verb To earn; gain.
  • intransitive verb To withdraw (money).
  • intransitive verb To use (a check, for example) when paying.
  • intransitive verb To receive on a regular basis or at a specified time.
  • intransitive verb To take or receive by chance.
  • intransitive verb To take (cards) from a dealer or central stack.
  • intransitive verb To force (a card) to be played.
  • intransitive verb To end or leave (a contest) tied or undecided.
  • intransitive verb To hit or strike (a billiard ball, for example) so as to give it backspin.
  • intransitive verb To hit (a golf ball) with a draw.
  • intransitive verb To make tense or taut.
  • intransitive verb To pull back the string of (a bow).
  • intransitive verb To distort the shape of.
  • intransitive verb To flatten, stretch, or mold (metal) by hammering or die stamping.
  • intransitive verb To shape or elongate (a wire, for example) by pulling through dies.
  • intransitive verb To inscribe (a line or lines) with a pencil or other marking implement.
  • intransitive verb To make a likeness of on a surface, using mostly lines; depict with lines.
  • intransitive verb To portray in writing or speech; depict with words.
  • intransitive verb To formulate or devise from evidence or data at hand.
  • intransitive verb To compose or write out in legal format.
  • intransitive verb To proceed or move steadily.
  • intransitive verb To attract customers or spectators.
  • intransitive verb To pour forth liquid.
  • intransitive verb To cause suppuration.
  • intransitive verb To take in a draft of air.
  • intransitive verb To steep in or as if in the manner of tea.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English drauen, from Old English dragan.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Middle English drawen, dragen, from Old English draġan, from Proto-Germanic *draganan (cf. West Frisian drage, Dutch dragen, German tragen ‘to carry’), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreĝ- 'to draw, pull' (compare Albanian dredh ‘to turn, spin’, Old Armenian դառնամ (daṙnam, "to turn"), Sanskrit dhrajas ‘load’).

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Examples

  • His game was to draw our hero to some convenient place where he could play a still more significant game of _draw_.

    Cad Metti, The Female Detective Strategist Dudie Dunne Again in the Field Harlan Page Halsey

  • And should this not be enough, I will add how Donatello (who, with the permission of Master Michael, was one of the first modern ones who in sculpture merited fame and name in Italy) never said anything else to his pupils, when teaching them, but draw, telling them in a single word of doctrine: ’Pupils, I give you the whole art of sculpture when I tell you — _draw!

    Michael Angelo Buonarroti Charles Holroyd 1889

  • Here, narrative games includes super linear games like CoD4 AND games with a malleable narrative like Deus Ex or Fallout, but not games where the main draw is futzing with a ruleset, such as the way most people play GTA outside of the missions or games like Noby Noby Boy.

    The Authorship Conflict SVGL 2009

  • The main draw is already touted as the best in tournament history.

    USATODAY.com - Roddick out of Delray Beach event 2006

  • Even without Roddick, the main draw is touted as the best in tournament history.

    USATODAY.com - Roddick out of Delray Beach event 2006

  • The Longhorns boast a lengthy list of academic and athletic accomplishments, but the reason they are such a draw is the vast population of the Lonestar State.

    Five Things To Know about CFB Expansion | myFiveBest 2010

  • Part of the draw is the novelty, of course: The 57-year-old is the only coach in major-college football who teaches an academic class during the season, and many simply sign up for bragging rights or to bask in the presence of a national celebrity.

    This Professor Looks Familiar Hannah Karp 2010

  • I much prefer my cultural musings from within - it gives me a decent idea of what the draw is and what this stuff of what many people are indicating here is a lower culture, has to say about our relationships with technology.

    Science Fiction vs. SciFi? 2008

  • PROS: Interesting plot that moves along nicely; like the movies X-Men or Spiderman, part of the draw is the character learning new powers.

    February 2006 2006

  • PROS: Interesting plot that moves along nicely; like the movies X-Men or Spiderman, part of the draw is the character learning new powers.

    REVIEW: Treason by Orson Scott Card 2006

  • The Commerce Department confirmed that there are only three companies that make optical fiber in the United States that meet federal Build America Buy America standards. Optical fiber is a strand of glass that’s been “drawn,” or melted down, to about as thin as a human hair. Light passes through this glass carrying data, providing an internet connection. The fiber is then wrapped into cables so that it can be installed safely in the field.

    Marketplace - Business news and economic stories for everyone. Kai Ryssdal 2024

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  • Autantonym: extract vs. attract

    May 8, 2014