catflap.org Online Dictionary Query

  Draw \Draw\ (dr[add]), v. t. [imp. Drew (dr[udd]); p. p.
     Drawn (dr[add]n); p. pr. & vb. n. Drawing.] [OE.
     dra[yogh]en, drahen, draien, drawen, AS. dragan; akin to
     Icel. & Sw. draga, Dan. drage to draw, carry, and prob. to
     OS. dragan to bear, carry, D. dragen, G. tragen, Goth.
     dragan; cf. Skr. dhraj to move along, glide; and perh. akin
     to Skr. dhar to hold, bear. [root]73. Cf. 2d Drag, Dray a
     cart, 1st Dredge.]
     1. To cause to move continuously by force applied in advance
        of the thing moved; to pull along; to haul; to drag; to
        cause to follow.
  
              He cast him down to ground, and all along Drew him
              through dirt and mire without remorse. --Spenser.
  
              He hastened to draw the stranger into a private
              room.                                 --Sir W.
                                                    Scott.
  
              Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the
              judgment seats?                       --James ii. 6.
  
              The arrow is now drawn to the head.   --Atterbury.
  
     2. To influence to move or tend toward one's self; to
        exercise an attracting force upon; to call towards itself;
        to attract; hence, to entice; to allure; to induce.
  
              The poet Did feign that Orpheus drew trees, stones,
              and floods.                           --Shak.
  
              All eyes you draw, and with the eyes the heart.
                                                    --Dryden.
  
     3. To cause to come out for one's use or benefit; to extract;
        to educe; to bring forth; as:
        (a) To bring or take out, or to let out, from some
            receptacle, as a stick or post from a hole, water from
            a cask or well, etc.
  
                  The drew out the staves of the ark. --2 Chron.
                                                    v. 9.
  
                  Draw thee waters for the siege.   --Nahum iii.
                                                    14.
  
                  I opened the tumor by the point of a lancet
                  without drawing one drop of blood. --Wiseman.
        (b) To pull from a sheath, as a sword.
  
                  I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy
                  them.                             --Ex. xv. 9.
        (c) To extract; to force out; to elicit; to derive.
  
                  Spirits, by distillations, may be drawn out of
                  vegetable juices, which shall flame and fume of
                  themselves.                       --Cheyne.
  
                  Until you had drawn oaths from him. --Shak.
        (d) To obtain from some cause or origin; to infer from
            evidence or reasons; to deduce from premises; to
            derive.
  
                  We do not draw the moral lessons we might from
                  history.                          --Burke.
        (e) To take or procure from a place of deposit; to call
            for and receive from a fund, or the like; as, to draw
            money from a bank.
        (f) To take from a box or wheel, as a lottery ticket; to
            receive from a lottery by the drawing out of the
            numbers for prizes or blanks; hence, to obtain by good
            fortune; to win; to gain; as, he drew a prize.
        (g) To select by the drawing of lots.
  
                  Provided magistracies were filled by men freely
                  chosen or drawn.                  --Freeman.
  
     4. To remove the contents of; as:
        (a) To drain by emptying; to suck dry.
  
                  Sucking and drawing the breast dischargeth the
                  milk as fast as it can generated. --Wiseman.
        (b) To extract the bowels of; to eviscerate; as, to draw a
            fowl; to hang, draw, and quarter a criminal.
  
                  In private draw your poultry, clean your tripe.
                                                    --King.
  
     5. To take into the lungs; to inhale; to inspire; hence,
        also, to utter or produce by an inhalation; to heave.
        ``Where I first drew air.'' --Milton.
  
              Drew, or seemed to draw, a dying groan. --Dryden.
  
     6. To extend in length; to lengthen; to protract; to stretch;
        to extend, as a mass of metal into wire.
  
              How long her face is drawn!           --Shak.
  
              And the huge Offa's dike which he drew from the
              mouth of Wye to that of Dee.          --J. R. Green.
  
     7. To run, extend, or produce, as a line on any surface;
        hence, also, to form by marking; to make by an instrument
        of delineation; to produce, as a sketch, figure, or
        picture.
  
     8. To represent by lines drawn; to form a sketch or a picture
        of; to represent by a picture; to delineate; hence, to
        represent by words; to depict; to describe.
  
              A flattering painter who made it his care To draw
              men as they ought to be, not as they are.
                                                    --Goldsmith.
  
              Can I, untouched, the fair one's passions move, Or
              thou draw beauty and not feel its power? --Prior.
  
     9. To write in due form; to prepare a draught of; as, to draw
        a memorial, a deed, or bill of exchange.
  
              Clerk, draw a deed of gift.           --Shak.
  
     10. To require (so great a depth, as of water) for floating;
         -- said of a vessel; to sink so deep in (water); as, a
         ship draws ten feet of water.
  
     11. To withdraw. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
  
               Go wash thy face, and draw the action. --Shak.
  
     12. To trace by scent; to track; -- a hunting term.
  
     Note: Draw, in most of its uses, retains some shade of its
           original sense, to pull, to move forward by the
           application of force in advance, or to extend in
           length, and usually expresses an action as gradual or
           continuous, and leisurely. We pour liquid quickly, but
           we draw it in a continued stream. We force compliance
           by threats, but we draw it by gradual prevalence. We
           may write a letter with haste, but we draw a bill with
           slow caution and regard to a precise form. We draw a
           bar of metal by continued beating.
  
     To draw a bow, to bend the bow by drawing the string for
        discharging the arrow.
  
     To draw a cover, to clear a cover of the game it contains.
        
  
     To draw a curtain, to cause a curtain to slide or move,
        either closing or unclosing. ``Night draws the curtain,
        which the sun withdraws.'' --Herbert.
  
     To draw a line, to fix a limit or boundary.
  
     To draw back, to receive back, as duties on goods for
        exportation.
  
     To draw breath, to breathe. --Shak.
  
     To draw cuts or lots. See under Cut, n.
  
     To draw in.
         (a) To bring or pull in; to collect.
         (b) To entice; to inveigle.
  
     To draw interest, to produce or gain interest.
  
     To draw off, to withdraw; to abstract. --Addison.
  
     To draw on, to bring on; to occasion; to cause. ``War which
        either his negligence drew on, or his practices
        procured.'' --Hayward.
  
     To draw (one) out, to elicit cunningly the thoughts and
        feelings of another.
  
     To draw out, to stretch or extend; to protract; to spread
        out. -- ``Wilt thou draw out thine anger to all
        generations?'' --Ps. lxxxv. 5. ``Linked sweetness long
        drawn out.'' --Milton.
  
     To draw over, to cause to come over, to induce to leave one
        part or side for the opposite one.
  
     To draw the longbow, to exaggerate; to tell preposterous
        tales.
  
     To draw (one) to or on to (something), to move, to
        incite, to induce. ``How many actions most ridiculous hast
        thou been drawn to by thy fantasy?'' --Shak.
  
     To draw up.
         (a) To compose in due form; to draught; to form in
             writing.
         (b) To arrange in order, as a body of troops; to array.
             ``Drawn up in battle to receive the charge.''
             --Dryden.
  
     Syn: To Draw, Drag.
  
     Usage: Draw differs from drag in this, that drag implies a
            natural inaptitude for drawing, or positive
            resistance; it is applied to things pulled or hauled
            along the ground, or moved with toil or difficulty.
            Draw is applied to all bodies moved by force in
            advance, whatever may be the degree of force; it
            commonly implies that some kind of aptitude or
            provision exists for drawing. Draw is the more general
            or generic term, and drag the more specific. We say,
            the horses draw a coach or wagon, but they drag it
            through mire; yet draw is properly used in both cases.