Headway Word of the Week

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draw

To draw means to make a picture with a pencil or pen.

• At school today the children drew a picture of their parents.
  

Check out other meanings of draw

• to pull out or across

Could you draw the curtains? It's dark outside.
The gangster drew a gun from his belt.

• to select

Nowadays, politicians are drawn from all levels of society.
Manchester United have drawn Juventus in the semi-final.
The magician asked me to choose a card. I drew the ace of hearts, and he told me which card I had without looking at it.

• to move slowly
  
  As the ship drew near the shore we saw our family waiting for us.
  We ran out of petrol. The car slowed down then gradually drew to a halt.
  
• to get ideas from

The writer drew inspiration from her difficult childhood.

• to have the same score in a game

Here's a football result. Valencia have drawn with Liverpool, 1 – 1.

Check out phrasal verbs

• The train drew away from the station.
  ( = It slowly moved out of the station)
  
• She drew back in horror.
  ( = She was so afraid she moved away)
  
• The winter nights are drawing in.
  ( = It's getting darker)
  
• It wasn't easy to draw him out.
  ( = He was reluctant to speak)
  
• I'm just going into the bank. I need to draw some money out.
  ( = I need to take some money out of my account)
  
• The police have drawn up guidelines.
  ( = They have produced a document that advises people what to do)
  

Check out expressions

• The police drew a blank.
  ( = They found nothing during their investigations)
  
• He stopped to draw breath.
  ( = He had a rest because he was out of breath)
  
• The actress drew the line at taking her clothes off.
  ( = She refused to go as far as that)
  
• Christmas is drawing near.
  ( = It's getting closer)
  
• The evening drew to a close.
  ( = It came to an end)
  
• Draw up a chair and sit down.
  ( = Bring a chair closer)
  
• He's always drawing attention to himself.
  ( = He wants people to notice him)
  

Check out other related words

• sketch
• trace
• pull (up)
• choose
• tie
• withdraw

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⇒ Learn more words in the Word of the Week archive