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

The companies, working with Oz Architecture, drew up plans for a 17-story tower with about 400 units. —Thomas Gounley, Denver Post, 18 Apr. 2026

Behind the scenes, her military reportedly drew up plans to blow up airfields in the event of an American invasion. —Nikhil Kumar, Time, 15 Apr. 2026

So Lee drew up a play that spread the floor for Ball and gave him a chance to isolate against a defender in the middle of the floor. —Doug Haller, New York Times, 15 Apr. 2026

In the wake of the Iran war, Microsoft has called for new international rules to be drawn up to protect data centers and other elements of civilian infrastructure. —Winston Ma, semafor.com, 13 Apr. 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