Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DRAFT, n. [corrupted from draught, from drag, draw, but authorized by respectable use.]

1. A drawing; as, this horse is good for draft. In this sense, draught is perhaps most common.
2. A drawing of men from a military band; a selecting or detaching of soldiers from an army, or any part of it, or from a military post. Sometimes a drawing of men from other companies or societies. These important posts, in consequence of heavy drafts, were left weakly defended. Several of the States had supplied the deficiency by drafts to serve for the year. – Marshall.
3. An order from one man to another directing the payment of money; a bill of exchange. I thought it most prudent to defer the drafts, till advice was received of the progress of the loan. – Hamilton.
4. A drawing of lines for a plan; a figure described on paper; delineation; sketch; plan delineated. [See Draught.]
5. Depth of water necessary to float a ship. [See Draught.]
6. A writing composed.