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draught

Pronunciation: /drɑːft/

(US draft)
Translate draught | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of draught

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.

draught in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of draught in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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