draft

1 of 3

noun

ˈdraft  ˈdräft 

1

fishing

a

: the act of drawing or pulling in a net

b

: haul sense 2b

a draft of fish

2

a

: the act or an instance of drinking or inhaling

a last draft on her cigarette

also : the portion drunk or inhaled in one such act

b

: a portion poured out or mixed for drinking : dose

3

mechanical engineering

a

: the force required to pull a plow or other implement

b

: load or load-pulling capacity

the draft of a typical draft horse

4

a

: the act of moving loads by drawing or pulling : pull

b

: a team of animals together with what they draw

5

a

: delineation, representation

a draft for a future skyscraper

b

: scheme, design

c

: a preliminary sketch, outline, or version

the author's first draft

a draft treaty

6

: the act, result, or plan of lengthening or stretching something (such as threads or metal)

7

a

: the act of causing a liquid to come out of a container or source : the act of drawing (as from a cask or keg)

b

: a portion of liquid so drawn

a draft of ale

c

: draft (see draft entry 2 sense 2) beer

a glass of draft

8

nautical : the depth of water a ship draws (see draw entry 1 sense transitive 6) especially when loaded

9

a(1)

: a system for or act of selecting individuals from a group (as for compulsory military service)

debating whether or not to institute a draft

(2)

: an act or process of selecting an individual (as for political candidacy) without the individual's expressed consent

b

: a group of individuals selected especially by military draft

c

sports : a system whereby exclusive rights to selected new players are apportioned among professional teams

He was chosen in the first round of the draft.

10

a

: an order for the payment of money drawn (see draw entry 1 sense 7c) by one person or bank on another

b

: the act or an instance of drawing from or making demands upon something : demand

11

a

: a current of air in a closed-in space

felt a draft

b

: a device for regulating the flow of air (as in a fireplace)

open the draft

12

: angle, taper

specifically, industrial engineering : the taper (see taper entry 2 sense 2b) given to a pattern or die (see die entry 2 sense 3) so that the work can be easily withdrawn

13

: a pocket of reduced air pressure behind a moving object

also, racing sports : the use of such a draft to save energy

see also:

on draft

draft

2 of 3

adjective

1

animal husbandry : used or adapted for drawing loads

draft horses

2

: being or having been ready to be drawn from a receptacle : being or having been on draft

drinking draft beer

draft

3 of 3

verb

drafted; drafting; drafts

transitive verb

1

: to select for some purpose: such as

a

: to conscript for military service

was drafted and sent overseas

b

sports : to select (a professional athlete) by draft

got drafted by the Yankees

2

a

: to draw the preliminary sketch, version, or plan of

draft legislation

b

: compose, prepare

draft a memo

3

: to draw off or away

water drafted by pumps

4

racing sports : to stay close behind (another racer) so as to take advantage of the reduced air pressure created by the leading racer

intransitive verb

1

: to practice draftsmanship

2

racing sports : to draft another racer (as in car or bike racing)

draftable

ˈdraf-tə-bəl 

ˈdräf-

adjective

draftee

ˌdraf-ˈtē 

ˌdräf-

noun

drafter

ˈdraf-tər 

ˈdräf-

noun

Synonyms of draft

Noun

• payload
• burden
• loading
• load
• cargo

Verb

• recruit
• enlist
• levy
• conscript
• conscribe

Examples of draft in a Sentence

Noun

The published poem differs quite a bit from earlier drafts.

You may want to seal the windows with plastic to stop drafts.

Verb

The two countries are drafting a treaty.

The drama club drafted three teenagers to be in the parade.

The legislature debated drafting more soldiers.

The new rule prohibits teams from drafting players under 18.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

In a statement released Friday, the NFL stated that an investigation concluded that Gold provided confidential information about the Cardinals’ 2026 NFL draft selections before they were publicly announced. — Doug Haller, New York Times, 20 July 2026

If the summer league is anything to go off, the Warriors’ top draft pick will be ready to contribute right away when training camp begins in late September. — Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 19 July 2026

Adjective

Conversations have continued with the Sabres after a pre-draft deal did not come to fruition. — Murat Ates, New York Times, 15 July 2026

Glushon also helped arrange pre-draft workouts so that Robinson could become more exposed to NBA personnel. — Mark Medina, Forbes.com, 29 June 2026

Verb

The problem is the Steelers drafted Kaden Wetjen as a return specialist in the fourth round. — Mike Defabo, New York Times, 21 July 2026

The Pacers drafted Peter after a very strong three-point shooting season at Liberty University in 2024-25. — Tony East, Forbes.com, 21 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English drauȝt, draught, drawt "act of pulling or drawing, drawing of water from a well, movement, move in chess or a similar game, quantity of liquid drunk at one time, something drawn or written," probably going back to Old English *dreaht, *dræht, going back to Germanic *drohtu- (whence also Middle Dutch dracht "pregnancy, child, load, dress," Middle High German traht "act of bearing, pregnancy," Old Icelandic dráttr "pulling, hesitation"), action noun with the suffix *-tu- from Germanic *dragan- "to drag, pull" (in Old English and North Germanic), "to carry" (in the rest of West Germanic) — more at draw entry 1

Note: The traditional spelling of this word outside North America is draught, except in senses 5 and 9. Aside from draught/draft and laughter (influenced by laugh), [ft] as an outcome of [χt] has not been accepted in the vocabulary of standard English; compare the discussion in E.J. Dobson, English Pronunciation, 1500-1700, 2nd edition, vol. 2 (Oxford, 1968), pp. 946-47.

Adjective

from attributive use of draft entry 1

Verb

derivative of draft entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Adjective

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1661, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 2a

Phrases Containing draft

• anti-draft
• bank draft
• dodge the draft
• draft board
• draft dodger
• final draft
• on draft
• pre-draft
• rough draft

Rhymes for draft

• aft
• chaffed
• craft
• daft
• draught
• graft
• graphed
• haft
• kraft
• laughed
• raft
• shaft

Kids Definition

draft

1 of 3 noun

ˈdraft 

ˈdrȧft

1

a

: the act of pulling or hauling

b

: the thing or amount pulled

2

: the act or an instance of drinking or inhaling

also : the portion drunk or inhaled at one time

3

a

: something represented in words or lines : design, plan

b

: a quick sketch, outline, or version from which a final work is produced

a rough draft of the essay

4

a

: the act of drawing out liquid (as from a barrel)

b

: a portion of liquid drawn out

5

: the depth of water required for a ship to float when loaded

6

: a picking of persons for required military service

7

: an order (as a check) issued by one party to another (as a bank) to pay money to a third party

8

a

: a current of air

b

: a device to regulate an air supply (as in a stove)

draft

2 of 3 adjective

1

: used for pulling loads

draft animals

2

: being a version to be finished later

a draft treaty

3

: being or having been on draft

draft beer

draft

3 of 3 verb

1

: to pick especially for required military service

2

a

: to make a draft of : outline

draft a plan

b

: to put into written form

draft an essay

drafter noun

Medical Definition

draft

noun

variants or chiefly British draught

ˈdraft, ˈdrȧft 

1

: a portion (as of medicine) poured out or mixed for drinking : dose

2

: a current of air in a closed-in space

drafty adjective

or chiefly British draughty

ˈdraf-tē, ˈdrȧf- 

Legal Definition

draft

1 of 2 noun

1

: a preliminary version of something (as a law)

2

a

: a system for or act of selecting individuals from a group (as for military service)

b

: the act or process of selecting an individual (as for political candidacy) without his or her expressed consent

3

: an order for the payment of money drawn by one person or bank on another see also drawee, drawer compare check

— documentary draft

: a draft that will be honored only upon the presentation of certain documents (as an invoice or certificate of title)

— sight draft

: a draft payable on presentation

— time draft

: a draft payable a specified number of days after the date of the draft or of its presentation

draft

2 of 2 transitive verb

1

: to select for some purpose

specifically : to conscript for military service

2

: to compose or prepare especially the preliminary version of

drafting legislation

intransitive verb

: to practice draftsmanship

drafter noun