draught meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

draught

noun

UK /dɹɑːft/ · US /dɹæft/

Etymology From Middle English draught, draght, draȝt, from Old English *dreaht, *dræht (related to dragan (“to draw, drag”)), from Proto-Germanic *drahtuz, noun form of *draganą; equivalent to draw + -t.

7 senses

1Alternative form of draft in some of its senses.
2A checker: a game piece used in the game of draughts.
3Ale: a type of beer brewed using top-fermenting yeast.
4A mild vesicatory.
5An outhouse: an outbuilding used as a lavatory.
6Any picture or drawing.
7A sudden attack upon an enemy.

UK, Alternative Alternative form of draft in some of its senses.

She could feel a draught where she was sitting.
[…]he sayde vnto Simon: Cary vs into the depe, and lett slippe thy nett to make a draught.1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Luke:

4 more examples

“Drink and pass!” he cried, handing the heavy charged flagon to the nearest seaman. “The crew alone now drink. Round with it, round! Short draughts—long swallows, men; ’tis hot as Satan’s hoof.1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “chapter 36”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:
Finally I gave him a draught, and he sank into uneasy slumber.1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “chapter 35”, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC:
Much as I wish that I had not to write this chapter, I know that I shall have to swallow many such bitter draughts in the course of this narrative. And I cannot do otherwise, if I claim to be a worshipper of Truth. […]Senses 4, 5 of draft: 1927-29, M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, translated 1940 by Mahadev Desai, Part I, Chapter iii
All the L.N.E.R. Clyde vessels are paddle-propelled, because of the shallow draught at Craigendoran Pier.1946 July and August, “Notes and News: The War Effect on the Clyde Steamers”, in Railway Magazine, page 324:

UK A checker: a game piece used in the game of draughts.

Australia Ale: a type of beer brewed using top-fermenting yeast.

Medicine, Sciences UK, Obsolete A mild vesicatory.

Obsolete An outhouse: an outbuilding used as a lavatory.

Then sayde Jesus: are ye yett withoute understondinge? perceave ye not, that whatsoever goeth in at the mouth, descendeth doune into the bely, and ys cast out into the draught?1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Matthew:
Rid me these Villaines from your companies; / Hang them, or stab them, drowne them in a draught, / Confound them by some course, and come to me, / Ile giue you Gold enough.c. 1605–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

UK, Obsolete Any picture or drawing.

And therefore, for the whole process, and full representation, there must be more than one draught; the one representing him in station, the other in session, another in genuflexion.1650, Thomas Browne, chapter V, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC, 1st book, page 22:

UK, Obsolete A sudden attack upon an enemy.

drawing sudden draughts upon the enemy when he looketh not for you1596 (date written; published 1633), Edmund Spenser, A Vewe of the Present State of Irelande […], Dublin: […] Societie of Stationers, […], →OCLC; republished as A View of the State of Ireland […] (Ancient Irish Histories), Dublin: […] Society of Stationers, […] Hibernia Press, […] [b]y John Morrison, 1809, →OCLC:

Synonyms: draught-house, checker
Derived terms: 36 terms
at a draught, backdraught, banker's draught, beast of draught, black draught, deep draught, draught animal, draught-bar, draughtboard, draught engine, draughter, draught excluder, draught-free, draught hook, draught horse, draught house, draught-house, draughtless, draughtman, draught net, draught on Aldgate pump, draught on the pump at Aldgate, draughtproof, draughts, draught screen, draughtsman, draughtsperson, draughtswoman, draughty, love draught, morning draught, overdraught, sleeping draught, through-draught, updraught, withdraught
Related terms: draw