draw up

verb

drew up; drawn up; drawing up; draws up

transitive verb

1

: to bring (a body of troops) into array

2

: to prepare a draft or version of

draw up plans

3

: to bring to a halt

4

: to straighten (oneself) to an erect posture especially as an assertion of dignity or resentment

intransitive verb

: to come to a halt

the car drew up at the door

Synonyms of draw up

• stop
• halt
• catch
• stall
• pull up
• check
• stay

Examples of draw up in a Sentence

he drew up his horse outside the tavern

drew up the troops into a line along the ridge

Recent Examples on the Web

Features and series can draw up to PHP7 million ($113,000), with documentaries and shorts capped at PHP3 million ($48,000). — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 11 Oct. 2026

Tulsa visited Navy on Saturday, and the Golden Hurricane scored a touchdown that nobody could have drawn up. — Ryan Morik Outkick, FOXNews.com, 10 Oct. 2026

And no reset timeout was called — with the Libs seemingly being misinformed by officials — to draw up another magical play for a shot at double OT like Fauthoux’s previous shot to end regulation. — Fiifi Frimpong, New York Daily News, 8 Oct. 2026

In that climate, Newsom couldn’t justify spending money to draw up single-member districts and deal with the lawsuits that would likely accompany such a change. — Matthew Adams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1608, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Rhymes for draw up

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup

Kids Definition

draw up

verb

1

: to arrange (as troops) in order

2

: to prepare a draft or version of

draw up plans

3

: to straighten (oneself) to an erect posture

drew himself up angrily and left the room

4

: to bring or come to a stop

the car drew up at the door