Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DRAW, v.i.

1. To pull; to exert strength in drawing. We say, a horse or an ox draws well.
2. To act as a weight. Watch the bias of the mind, that it may not draw too much. – Addison.
3. To shrink; to contract into a smaller compass. – Bacon.
4. To move; to advance. The day draws toward evening.
5. To be filled or inflated with wind, so as to press on and advance a ship in her course; as, the sails draw.
6. To unsheathe a sword. His love drew to defend him. In this phrase, sword is understood.
7. To use or practice the art of delineating figures; as, he draws with exactness.
8. To collect the matter of an ulcer or abscess; to cause to suppurate; to excite to inflammation, maturation and discharge; as, an epispastic draws well. To draw back, to retire to move back; to withdraw. #2. To renounce the faith; to apostatize. – Heb. x. To draw near or nigh, to approach; to come near. To draw off, to retire; to retreat; as, the company drew off by degrees. To draw on, to advance; to approach; as, the day draws on. – Dryden. #2. To gain on; to approach in pursuit; as, the ship drew on the chase. #3. To demand payment by an order or bill, called a draft. He drew on his factor for the amount of the shipment. You may draw on me for the expenses of your journey. – Jay. To draw up, to form in regular order; as, the troops drew up in front of the palace; the fleet drew up in a semicircle. Draw, in most of its uses, retains some shade of its original sense, to pull, to move forward by the application of force in advance, or to extend in length. And Johnson justly observes, that it expresses an action gradual or continuous, and leisurely. We pour liquor quick, but we draw it in a continued stream. We force compliance by threats, but we draw it by gradual prevalence. We write a letter with haste, but we draw a bill with slow caution, and regard to a precise form. We draw a bar of metal by continued beating.