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

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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Everything was in the cloud, after all, needed only to be drawn up by a touch, her touch. Mona Awad, New Yorker, 20 July 2025 To help ride out surge, the conceptual plan drawn up for the developers by Miami planning and architecture firm DPZ CoDesign, known for its pedestrian-friendly New Urbanist approach, puts the first usable floor of the new buildings up in the air as well. Andres Viglucci, Miami Herald, 18 July 2025 New York’s 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Maxwell’s appeal effort last year, finding that the deal drawn up in 2007 and approved the following year only protected Epstein and his coconspirators in South Florida. Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily News, 15 July 2025 Milwaukee holds a flag design competition — again and again But the flag's rediscovery helped fuel the imagination of Alderman Fred P. Meyers, who drew up a resolution calling for the City Art Commission to get a civic flag in motion. Chris Foran, jsonline.com, 9 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for draw up

Word History

First Known Use

1608, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of draw up was in 1608

Cite this Entry

“Draw up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/draw%20up. Accessed 23 Jul. 2025.

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

More from Merriam-Webster on draw up

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!