DRAUGHT, n. Draft. [from draw, drag.]

To draw out; to call forth. [See Draft.] – Addison.

1. The act of drawing; as, a horse or ox fit for draught.
2. The quality of being drawn; as, a cart or plow of easy draught.
3. The drawing of liquor into the mouth and throat; the act of drinking.
4. The quantity of liquor drank at once.
5. The act of delineating, or that which is delineated; a representation by lines, as the figure of a house, a machine, a fort, &c. described on paper. [Qu. Ir. dreach, W. dryc.] – Encyc.
6. Representation by picture; figure painted, or drawn by the pencil. – Dryden.
7. The act of drawing a net; a sweeping for fish.
8. That which is taken by sweeping with a net; as, a draught of fishes. Luke v.
9. The drawing or bending of a bow; the act of shooting with a bow and arrow. – Camden.
10. The act of drawing men from a military band, army, or post; also, the forces drawn; a detachment. [See Draft, which is more generally used.]
11. A sink or drain. – Matth. xv.
12. An order for the payment of money; a bill of exchange. [See Draft.]
13. The depth of water necessary to float a ship, or the depth a ship sinks in water, especially when laden; as, a ship of twelve feet draught.
14. In England, a small allowance on weighable goods, made by the king to the importer, or by the seller to the buyer, to insure full weight. – Encyc.
15. A sudden attack or drawing on an enemy. [Query.] – Spenser.
16. A writing composed.
17. Draughts, a kind of game resembling chess.
18. A sinapism; a mild vesicatory.

1. The act of drawing or pulling
   
   
   ; as: (a)
2. Used for drawing vehicles, loads, etc.; as, a draught beast; draught hooks.
3. To draw out] to call forth. See Draft.
   
   
   Addison.
4. That which is drawn
   
   
   ; as: (a)
5. Relating to, or characterized by, a draft, or current of air.
6. To diminish or exhaust by drawing.
   
   
   [R.]

   The Parliament so often draughted and drained. Sir W. Scott.

7. That which draws
   
   
   ; as: (a)
8. Used in making drawings; as, draught compasses.
9. To draw in outline; to make a draught, sketch, or plan of, as in architectural and mechanical drawing.
   
   

   Draughting room, a room draughtsmen to work in, and where plans are kept.

10. Capacity of being drawn; force necessary to draw; traction.
    
    

    The Hertfordshire wheel plow . . . is of the easiest draught. Mortimer.

11. Drawn directly from the barrel, or other receptacle, in distinction from bottled; on draught; -- said of ale, cider, and the like.
    
    

    * This word, especially in the first and second meanings, is often written draft, a spelling which is approved by many authorities.

    Draught box. See Draught tube, below. -- Draught engine (Mining), an engine used for pumping, raising heavy weights, and the like. -- Draught hook (Mil.), one of the hooks on a cannon carriage, used in drawing the gun backward and forward. -- Draught horse, a horse employed in drawing loads, plowing, etc., as distinguished from a saddle horse or carriage horse. -- Draught net, a seine or hauling net. -- Draught ox, an ox employed in hauling loads, plowing, etc. -- Draught tube (Water Wheels), an air- tight pipe extending downward into the tailrace from a turbine wheel located above it, to make the whole fall available; -- called also draught box.

12. The depth of water necessary to float a ship, or the depth a ship sinks in water, especially when laden; as, a ship of twelve feet draught.
13. An allowance on weighable goods. [Eng.] See Draft, 4.
14. A move, as at chess or checkers.
    
    
    [Obs.] Chaucer.
15. The bevel given to the pattern for a casting, in order that it may be drawn from the sand without injury to the mold.
16. See Draft, n., 7.
    
    

    Angle of draught, the angle made with the plane over which a body is drawn by the line in which the pulling force acts, when the latter has the direction best adapted to overcome the obstacles of friction and the weight of the body. - - Black draught. See under Black, a. -- Blast draught, or Forced draught, the draught produced by a blower, as by blowing in air beneath a fire or drawing out the gases from above it. -- Natural draught, the draught produced by the atmosphere flowing, by its own weight, into a chimney wherein the air is rarefied by heat. -- On draught, so as to be drawn from the wood (as a cask, barrel, etc.) in distinction from being bottled; as, ale on draught. -- Sheer draught. See under Sheer.