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

Brown drew up a play resulting in Brunson getting a clean look to tie the game at a corner three. —Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 5 Mar. 2026

Steve Meyer of Meyer Design said his company is not the same firm that drew up Park Place. —Marie Wilson, Chicago Tribune, 5 Mar. 2026

Turkey has drawn up plans to deal with a potential inflow of people fleeing ​the war in neighbouring Iran, Interior Minister Mustafa ‌Ciftci said today, with preparations including possible buffer zones along the frontier and tent camps. —Matt Nighswander, NBC news, 4 Mar. 2026

First of all, the title is Survive (one of four iterations the show would have over the years), and the document was drawn up for ABC, not CBS. —Jake Kanter, Deadline, 3 Mar. 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