draft

verb

to compose or draw up a plan for
select from a group for some job/service

L9584 on Wikidata ↗

noun

process used to allocate certain players to sports teams
the lowest print quality at which the highest printing speed can be achieved
flow of air
non-final version
ship measurement

L9585 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /dɹɑːft/ / /dɹæft/ / /dɹaft/

adj

Etymology: A phonetic spelling of draught (compare laughter), from Middle English draught, draght (“that which is pulled; that which is drawn up, a design”), from Old English *dreaht, *dræht, from Proto-West Germanic *drahti, *drahtu, from Proto-Germanic *drahtuz (“a pulling, drawing”). Cognate with Dutch dracht, German Tracht, Icelandic dráttur. By surface analysis, draw + -t.

Referring to drinks on tap, in contrast to bottled.
“I'd rather have a fresh, cheap draft beer.”
Referring to animals used for pulling heavy loads.
“A Clydesdale is a draft horse.”

noun

A current of air, usually coming into a room or vehicle.
The draw through a flue of gasses or smoke resulting from a combustion process.
An act of drinking.
The quantity of liquid (such as water, alcohol, or medicine) drunk in one swallow.
“to drink at a draft”
“She took a deep draft from the bottle of water.”
A dose (of medicine, alcohol, etc.).
Liquid, especially beer or other alcohol, drawn from a cask or keg rather than a bottle or can.
“From 1767 to 1774 no pale wine was bottled but for immediate use; only draft wine of all kinds was used in the principal taverns, and it was often very bad, not from tricks of the vintners, but from bad management.”
“Another positive trend is the increase of quality in draft cider options. Draft cider has often been, and sometimes still is, considered an inferior product by cider traditionalists, who believe a true cider should come in a bottle or[…]”
The depth of water needed to float a particular ship; the depth from the waterline to the bottom of a vessel's hull; the depth of water drawn by a vessel.
A version of a written work (such as a book or paper) or drawing.
“I have to revise the first draft of my term paper.”
“His first drafts were better than most authors' final products.”
An unsent e-mail.
A preliminary sketch or outline for a plan.
An order for money to be paid; the document that states it: a cheque, note, bond, bill of exchange, money order, or IOU.
Conscription; the system of forcing people to serve in the military.
“He left the country to avoid the draft.”
A person who has been drafted; a conscript or draftee.
“With these counsels, and many others equally valuable, did Papa Wick fortify Bobby ere that last awful night at Portsmouth when the Officers' Quarters held more inmates than were provided for by the Regulations, and the liberty-men of the ships fell foul of the drafts for India, and the battle raged from the Dockyard Gates even to the slums of Longport, while the drabs of Fratton came down and scratched the faces of the Queen's Officers.”
A system of forcing or convincing people to take an elected position.
A system of assigning rookie players to professional sports teams.
A style of play in collectible card games, where players select from a shared pool of cards.
A quantity that is requisitioned or drawn out from a larger population.
“As an instance: amongst a draft of young hounds from Earl F itzwilliam's was one, of whom Will Deane, his huntsman, made this remark in his letter, 'that he could not guess at Lord Foley's dislike to the hound called Glider, then sent, which was of the best blood in the country, being got by Mr. Meynell's Glider out of Lord Fitzwilliam's Blossom, and was moreover the most promising young hound he had ever entered;...”
“These drafts left between the 17th March and 28th April. After this there was no regular system of artillery drafts. A draft of 80 was detailed to take charge of horses on board ship as all cavalry drafts were for the time exhausted, and this draft sailed on the 30th June.”
The pulling force (tension) on couplers and draft gear during a slack (stretched) condition.
The bevel given to the pattern for a casting, so that it can be drawn from the sand without damaging the mould.
The action or an act (especially of a beast of burden or vehicle) of pulling something along or back.
“using oxen for draft”
“shot forth an arrow with a mighty draft”
The act of drawing in a net for fish.
That which is drawn in; a catch; a haul.
“He cast his net, which brought him a very great draft.”
A small stream or tributary.
“Crossing several ridges & hollows & two small drafts of water.”
“Hollows were tributary to a cove or another type of sizable valley threaded by a creek or, in Pennsylvania, a “run,” and in Virginia, a “draft.””
A ravine or narrow valley, especially one through which a stream (at least intermittently) flows.
“[page 24:] About one quarter of a mile up the draft, the same blue-gray limestone is opened in a quarry on the Graham and Robinson farm, […] [page 31:] Up along a narrow draft heading south-east from the creek at Southern's place, a series of small pits and trenches have been dug close to the ridge […] above the level of the creek.”
“Then came the pleasant toil up and down the ridges and drafts of the Knob.”

verb

To write a first version; to make a preliminary sketch.
To draw in outline; to make a draught, sketch, or plan of, as in architectural and mechanical drawing.
To write a law.
To select (someone or something) for a particular role or purpose.
“There was a campaign to draft Smith to run for President.”
“They drafted me to be the chairperson of the new committee.”
To select (someone or something) for a particular role or purpose.
“He was drafted during the Vietnam War.”
To select (someone or something) for a particular role or purpose.
“The calves were drafted from the cows.”
To select (someone or something) for a particular role or purpose.
“After his last year of college football, he was drafted by the Miami Dolphins.”
To follow very closely (behind another vehicle), thereby providing an aerodynamic advantage to both lead and follower and conserving energy or increasing speed.
“At the restart, the positions of the Mercedes drivers was reversed. Hamilton drafted Bottas down to Turn One and took the lead around the outside, controlling the race from there.”
To draw out; to call forth.
To draw fibers out of a clump, for spinning in the production of yarn.
To play a collectible card game by selecting from a shared pool of cards.