draught

 
Pronunciation: /drɑːft/
(US draft)

noun

  • 1a current of cool air in a room or other confined space: heavy curtains at the windows cut out draughts
  • 2a single act of drinking or inhaling: she downed the remaining beer in one draught
  • the amount swallowed or inhaled in a draught: he took deep draughts of oxygen into his lungs
  • literary or archaic a quantity of a liquid with medicinal properties: a sleeping draught
  • 3the depth of water needed to float a ship: the shallow draught enabled her to get close inshore
  • 4the drawing in of a fishing net.
  • the fish taken at one drawing; a catch.

adjective

[attributive]
  • 1denoting beer or cider served from a barrel or tank rather than from a bottle or can: draught ale
  • 2denoting an animal used for pulling heavy loads: a draught horse

Phrases

feel the draught

informal experience an adverse change in one’s financial circumstances: the high street shops will feel the draught most keenly

on draught

(of beer or cider) ready to be drawn from a barrel or tank; not bottled or canned.

Origin:

Middle English (in the sense 'drawing, pulling'; also 'something drawn, a load'): from Old Norse dráttr, of Germanic origin; related to German Tracht, also to draw. Compare with draft

Do not confuse draft with draught. Draft means 'a first version of a piece of writing' or 'make a first version of a piece of writing' ( I drafted a letter of complaint), whereas draught chiefly means 'a current of air' ( heavy curtains cut out draughts). Draft is the American spelling for both senses.