draft

UK/dɹɑːft//dɹæft/

draft noun: a current of air, usually coming into a room or vehicle.

Noun

draft (countable and uncountable, plural drafts)

(US) A current of air, usually coming into a room or vehicle.
(US) The draw through a flue of gasses or smoke resulting from a combustion process.
(US) An act of drinking.
(US) The quantity of liquid (such as water, alcohol, or medicine) drunk in one swallow.
- to drink at a draft
- She took a deep draft from the bottle of water.
Synonyms:

swig
(US) A dose (of medicine, alcohol, etc.).
(US) Liquid, especially beer or other alcohol, drawn from a cask or keg rather than a bottle or can.
- From 1767 to 1774 no pale wine was bottled but for immediate use; only draft wine of all kinds was used in the principal taverns, and it was often very bad, not from tricks of the vintners, but from bad management.1863, Thomas George Shaw, Wine, the Vine, and the Cellar, page 152
- Another positive trend is the increase of quality in draft cider options. Draft cider has often been, and sometimes still is, considered an inferior product by cider traditionalists, who believe a true cider should come in a bottle or[…]2015 September 14, Jeff Smith, Craft Cider: How to Turn Apples into Alcohol, The Countryman Press, →ISBN
(US) 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.
A version of a written work (such as a book or paper) or drawing.
- I have to revise the first draft of my term paper.
- His first drafts were better than most authors' final products.
An unsent e-mail.
A preliminary sketch or outline for a plan.
(archaic) An order for money to be paid; the document that states it: a cheque, note, bond, bill of exchange, money order, or IOU.
(Canada, US, usually) Conscription; the system of forcing people to serve in the military.
- He left the country to avoid the draft.

Show 12 more meaningsShow fewer meanings

A person who has been drafted; a conscript or draftee.
- With these counsels, and many others equally valuable, did Papa Wick fortify Bobby ere that last awful night at Portsmouth when the Officers' Quarters held more inmates than were provided for by the Regulations, and the liberty-men of the ships fell foul of the drafts for India, and the battle...1889, Rudyard Kipling, “Only A Subaltern”, in Under the Deodars, Boston: The Greenock Press, published 1899, page 135
(US) A system of forcing or convincing people to take an elected position.
(US) A system of assigning rookie players to professional sports teams.
A style of play in collectible card games, where players select from a shared pool of cards.
(British, English, archaic, possibly) A quantity that is requisitioned or drawn out from a larger population.
- As an instance: amongst a draft of young hounds from Earl F itzwilliam's was one, of whom Will Deane, his huntsman, made this remark in his letter, 'that he could not guess at Lord Foley's dislike to the hound called Glider, then sent, which was of the best blood in the country, being got by Mr....1841, Alexander Walker, Intermarriage, page 325
- These drafts left between the 17th March and 28th April. After this there was no regular system of artillery drafts. A draft of 80 was detailed to take charge of horses on board ship as all cavalry drafts were for the time exhausted, and this draft sailed on the 30th June.1904, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons, Sessional papers. Inventory control record 1 - Volume 42, page 83
(US) The bevel given to the pattern for a casting, so that it can be drawn from the sand without damaging the mould.
(US) The pulling force (tension) on couplers and draft gear during a slack (stretched) condition.
(US, archaic, possibly) The action or an act (especially of a beast of burden or vehicle) of pulling something along or back.
- using oxen for draft
- shot forth an arrow with a mighty draft
(US, archaic, possibly) The act of drawing in a net for fish.
(US, archaic, possibly) That which is drawn in; a catch; a haul.
- He cast his net, which brought him a very great draft.
(Appalachia) A small stream or tributary.
- Crossing several ridges & hollows & two small drafts of water.1801, Surveys 43, page 428, quoted in 1940, George Davis McJimsey, Topographic Terms in Virginia, page 63
- Hollows were tributary to a cove or another type of sizable valley threaded by a creek or, in Pennsylvania, a “run,” and in Virginia, a “draft.”2003, John Alexander Williams, Appalachia: A History, page 113
(Appalachia, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West, especially) A ravine or narrow valley, especially one through which a stream (at least intermittently) flows.
- [page 24:] About one quarter of a mile up the draft, the same blue-gray limestone is opened in a quarry on the Graham and Robinson farm, […]
- [page 31:] Up along a narrow draft heading south-east from the creek at Southern's place, a series of small pits and trenches have been dug close to the ridge […] above the level of the creek.1887, Andrew Smith McCreath, Edward Vincent D'Invilliers, The New River-Cripple Creek Mineral Region of Virginia

Verb

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

(transitive) To write a first version; to make a preliminary sketch.
To draw in outline; to make a draught, sketch, or plan of, as in architectural and mechanical drawing.
To write a law.
To select (someone or something) for a particular role or purpose.
- There was a campaign to draft Smith to run for President.
- They drafted me to be the chairperson of the new committee.
1. (US, transitive) To conscript (a person); to force (a person) to serve in some capacity, especially in the military.
  - He was drafted during the Vietnam War.
2. To select and separate an animal or animals from a group.
  - The calves were drafted from the cows.
3. (US, transitive) To select a rookie player onto a professional sports team.
  - After his last year of college football, he was drafted by the Miami Dolphins.
(ambitransitive) To follow very closely (behind another vehicle), thereby providing an aerodynamic advantage to both lead and follower and conserving energy or increasing speed.
- At the restart, the positions of the Mercedes drivers was reversed. Hamilton drafted Bottas down to Turn One and took the lead around the outside, controlling the race from there.2020 September 13, Andrew Benson, “Tuscan Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton claims 90th win after incredible race”, in BBC Sport
Synonyms:

slipstream
To draw out; to call forth.
To draw fibers out of a clump, for spinning in the production of yarn.
To play a collectible card game by strategically selecting from a shared pool of cards.

Adjective

draft (not comparable)

(US) Referring to drinks on tap, in contrast to bottled.
- I'd rather have a fresh, cheap draft beer.
(US) Referring to animals used for pulling heavy loads.
- A Clydesdale is a draft horse.

draft meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Telugu

draft in Tamil

வளர்வரை, முன் வரைவு, வரைவு, வரைவோலை, பதிவேடு, பருமட்டான

draft in Bengali

early version of a written work: মুসাবিদা muśabida, খসড়া khośoṛa

draft in Telugu

ముసాయిదా, డ్రాఫ్ట్, డ్రాఫ్ట్ చేయడానికి

More languagesFewer languages

draft in Malayalam: കരട് karaṭŭ
draft in Kannada: ಕರಡುಬರಹ, ಗಾಳಿಹರಿವು, ಕರಡು, ದಸ್ತಾವೇಜು
draft in Punjabi: ਡਰਾਫਟ, ਖਰਡ਼ਾ, ਡ੍ਰਾਫਟ
draft in Gujarati: ડ્રાફ્ટ, મુસદ્દો, ડ્રાફ્ટ કરવા માટે
draft in Odia: ଡ୍ରାଫ୍ଟ, ଡ୍ରାଫ୍ଟ୍, ଡ୍ରାଫ୍ଟ କରିବା ପାଇଁ
draft in Sinhala: කෙටුම්පත
draft in Assamese: খচৰা khosora
draft in Tagalog: waki
draft in Arabic: مُسْوَدَّة muswadda, تَجْنِيد tajnīd, سَوَّدَ sawwada, جَنَّدَ jannada
draft in Thai: ฉบับร่าง, ร่าง râang
draft in Vietnamese: nháp

Examples of draft in a sentence

Dr Richard Beeching's handwritten draft of his report survives in the National Archives.2023 March 8, David Clough, “The long road that led to Beeching”, in RAIL, number 978, page 43:
An earlier draft of horses for the 4th Light Dragoons, however,was very different.1993, Lord Anglesey, A History of the British Cavalry 1816-1919: Volume 2: 1851-1871:
The Light Brigade have got a draft of about 250 horses from England, and we expect ours shortly.2009, Philip Warner, A Cavalryman in the Crimea:
Then came the pleasant toil up and down the ridges and drafts of the Knob.1894, Charles D Lanier, “Sawney's Deer-Lick”, in Scribner's Magazine, page 101:

All 40 example sentences with draft

Synonyms of draft

Forms of draft

Noun
plural	drafts
alternative form	draught
Verb
third-person singular present	drafts
present participle	drafting
past participle	drafted
past	drafted

Past tense of draft: drafted

Plural of draft: drafts

Origin of draft

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”). Cognate with Dutch dracht, German Tracht, Icelandic dráttur. By surface analysis, draw + -t.

Words formed from draft

Phrases with draft

Words that rhyme with draft

Questions about draft

What does draft mean?: Draft means a current of air, usually coming into a room or vehicle.
What is draft in Tamil?: Draft in Tamil is வளர்வரை, முன் வரைவு, வரைவு. See Draft meaning in Tamil.
How do you use draft in a sentence?: Dr Richard Beeching's handwritten draft of his report survives in the National Archives.
What part of speech is draft?: Draft can be a noun, a verb or an adjective.
How do you pronounce draft?: Draft is pronounced /dɹɑːft/ (UK).
What is the plural of draft?: The plural of draft is drafts.

Words near draft in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: draft (page history and authors); draft (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); draft (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); draft (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); കരട് (Malayalam) (page history and authors); draft (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); draft (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); draft (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); draft (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); draft (Sinhala Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-draught.ogg, EN-AU ck1 draught.ogg.

Cite this entry: “draft.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/draft. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.