To draw a curtain

draw draw (dr[add]), v. t. [imp. {Drew} (dr[udd]); p. p. {Drawn} (dr[add]n); p. pr. & vb. n. {Drawing}.] [OE. dra[yogh]en, drahen, draien, drawen, AS. dragan; akin to Icel. & Sw. draga, Dan. drage to draw, carry, and prob. to OS. dragan to bear, carry, D. dragen, G. tragen, Goth. dragan; cf. Skr. dhraj to move along, glide; and perh. akin to Skr. dhar to hold, bear. [root]73. Cf. 2d {Drag}, {Dray} a cart, 1st {Dredge}.] 1. To cause to move continuously by force applied in advance of the thing moved; to pull along; to haul; to drag; to cause to follow. [1913 Webster]

He cast him down to ground, and all along Drew him through dirt and mire without remorse. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]

He hastened to draw the stranger into a private room. --Sir W. Scott. [1913 Webster]

Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? --James ii. 6. [1913 Webster]

The arrow is now drawn to the head. --Atterbury. [1913 Webster]

2. To influence to move or tend toward one's self; to exercise an attracting force upon; to call towards itself; to attract; hence, to entice; to allure; to induce. [1913 Webster]

The poet Did feign that Orpheus drew trees, stones, and floods. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

All eyes you draw, and with the eyes the heart. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]

3. To cause to come out for one's use or benefit; to extract; to educe; to bring forth; as: (a) To bring or take out, or to let out, from some receptacle, as a stick or post from a hole, water from a cask or well, etc. [1913 Webster]

The drew out the staves of the ark. --2 Chron. v. 9. [1913 Webster]

Draw thee waters for the siege. --Nahum iii. 14. [1913 Webster]

I opened the tumor by the point of a lancet without drawing one drop of blood. --Wiseman. (b) To pull from a sheath, as a sword. [1913 Webster]

I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. --Ex. xv. 9. (c) To extract; to force out; to elicit; to derive. [1913 Webster]

Spirits, by distillations, may be drawn out of vegetable juices, which shall flame and fume of themselves. --Cheyne. [1913 Webster]

Until you had drawn oaths from him. --Shak. (d) To obtain from some cause or origin; to infer from evidence or reasons; to deduce from premises; to derive. [1913 Webster]

We do not draw the moral lessons we might from history. --Burke. (e) To take or procure from a place of deposit; to call for and receive from a fund, or the like; as, to draw money from a bank. (f) To take from a box or wheel, as a lottery ticket; to receive from a lottery by the drawing out of the numbers for prizes or blanks; hence, to obtain by good fortune; to win; to gain; as, he drew a prize. (g) To select by the drawing of lots. [1913 Webster]

Provided magistracies were filled by men freely chosen or drawn. --Freeman. [1913 Webster]

4. To remove the contents of; as: (a) To drain by emptying; to suck dry. [1913 Webster]

Sucking and drawing the breast dischargeth the milk as fast as it can generated. --Wiseman. (b) To extract the bowels of; to eviscerate; as, to draw a fowl; to hang, draw, and quarter a criminal. [1913 Webster]

In private draw your poultry, clean your tripe. --King. [1913 Webster]

5. To take into the lungs; to inhale; to inspire; hence, also, to utter or produce by an inhalation; to heave. ``Where I first drew air.'' --Milton. [1913 Webster]

Drew, or seemed to draw, a dying groan. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]

6. To extend in length; to lengthen; to protract; to stretch; to extend, as a mass of metal into wire. [1913 Webster]

How long her face is drawn! --Shak. [1913 Webster]

And the huge Offa's dike which he drew from the mouth of Wye to that of Dee. --J. R. Green. [1913 Webster]

7. To run, extend, or produce, as a line on any surface; hence, also, to form by marking; to make by an instrument of delineation; to produce, as a sketch, figure, or picture. [1913 Webster]

8. To represent by lines drawn; to form a sketch or a picture of; to represent by a picture; to delineate; hence, to represent by words; to depict; to describe. [1913 Webster]

A flattering painter who made it his care To draw men as they ought to be, not as they are. --Goldsmith. [1913 Webster]

Can I, untouched, the fair one's passions move, Or thou draw beauty and not feel its power? --Prior. [1913 Webster]

9. To write in due form; to prepare a draught of; as, to draw a memorial, a deed, or bill of exchange. [1913 Webster]

Clerk, draw a deed of gift. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

10. To require (so great a depth, as of water) for floating; -- said of a vessel; to sink so deep in (water); as, a ship draws ten feet of water. [1913 Webster]

11. To withdraw. [Obs.] --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]

Go wash thy face, and draw the action. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

12. To trace by scent; to track; -- a hunting term. [1913 Webster]

13. (Games) (a) (Cricket) To play (a short-length ball directed at the leg stump) with an inclined bat so as to deflect the ball between the legs and the wicket. (b) (Golf) To hit (the ball) with the toe of the club so that it is deflected toward the left. (c) (Billiards) To strike (the cue ball) below the center so as to give it a backward rotation which causes it to take a backward direction on striking another ball. (d) (Curling) To throw up (the stone) gently. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

14. To leave (a contest) undecided; as, the battle or game was drawn. ``Win, lose, or draw.'' [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]

Note: 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 usually expresses an action as gradual or continuous, and leisurely. We pour liquid quickly, but we draw it in a continued stream. We force compliance by threats, but we draw it by gradual prevalence. We may 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. [1913 Webster]

{To draw a bow}, to bend the bow by drawing the string for discharging the arrow.

{To draw a cover}, to clear a cover of the game it contains.

{To draw a curtain}, to cause a curtain to slide or move, either closing or unclosing. ``Night draws the curtain, which the sun withdraws.'' --Herbert.

{To draw a line}, to fix a limit or boundary.

{To draw back}, to receive back, as duties on goods for exportation.

{To draw breath}, to breathe. --Shak.

{To draw cuts} or {To draw lots}. See under {Cut}, n.

{To draw in}. (a) To bring or pull in; to collect. (b) To entice; to inveigle.

{To draw interest}, to produce or gain interest.

{To draw off}, to withdraw; to abstract. --Addison.

{To draw on}, to bring on; to occasion; to cause. ``War which either his negligence drew on, or his practices procured.'' --Hayward.

{To draw (one) out}, to elicit cunningly the thoughts and feelings of another.

{To draw out}, to stretch or extend; to protract; to spread out. -- ``Wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?'' --Ps. lxxxv. 5. ``Linked sweetness long drawn out.'' --Milton.

{To draw over}, to cause to come over, to induce to leave one part or side for the opposite one.

{To draw the longbow}, to exaggerate; to tell preposterous tales.

{To draw (one) to} or {To draw (one) on to} (something), to move, to incite, to induce. ``How many actions most ridiculous hast thou been drawn to by thy fantasy?'' --Shak.

{To draw up}. (a) To compose in due form; to draught; to form in writing. (b) To arrange in order, as a body of troops; to array. ``Drawn up in battle to receive the charge.'' --Dryden.

Syn: To {Draw}, {Drag}.

Usage: Draw differs from drag in this, that drag implies a natural inaptitude for drawing, or positive resistance; it is applied to things pulled or hauled along the ground, or moved with toil or difficulty. Draw is applied to all bodies moved by force in advance, whatever may be the degree of force; it commonly implies that some kind of aptitude or provision exists for drawing. Draw is the more general or generic term, and drag the more specific. We say, the horses draw a coach or wagon, but they drag it through mire; yet draw is properly used in both cases. [1913 Webster]