Word.ws English Dictionary

draw off

draw off verb: to remove by using a siphon.

Verb

draw off (third-person singular simple present draws off, present participle drawing off, simple past drew off, past participle drawn off)

  1. (idiomatic, transitive) To remove by using a siphon.
    • The butler drew off wine from a barrel.
  2. (dated, slang, transitive) To distract (someone).
    • We need a diversion to draw them off.
  3. (intransitive) To retire or retreat.
    • The dog obeyed the significant beck of his finger, and they drew off, stealthily, together.1838, Boz [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], Oliver Twist; […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC
    • One of the lynxes moved; it drew off a little farther, as though deciding to abandon the fight.1966, Robert William Murphy, The Phantom Setter, and Other Stories, page 102

Forms of draw off

third-person singular presentdraws off
present participledrawing off
pastdrew off
past participledrawn off

Questions about draw off

What does draw off mean?
Draw off means to remove by using a siphon.
What part of speech is draw off?
Draw off is a verb.
What is the past tense of draw off?
The past tense of draw off is drew off.

Words near draw off in the dictionary

  1. draw lines in the sand
  2. draw live
  3. draw lots
  4. Draw My Life
  5. draw near
  6. draw off
  7. draw on
  8. draw one's horns in
  9. draw one's last breath
  10. draw out
  11. draw poker

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: draw off (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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-draw off.ogg.

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