draff-sack 
draff-sackt, [< ME. draf-sak; < draff + 
sac* 1 .] A bag filled with draff or refuse. 
I lye as a draf-sak in ray bed. 
Chaucer, Reeve's Tale, 1. 286. 
draffy (draf'i), a. [< draff + -i/ 1 . Cf. equiv. 
draft;/ 2 , draughty 2 .'] Like draff; waste; worth- 
less. 
The dregs and draffy part, disgrace and jealousie, 
I scorn thee, and contemn thee. 
Fletcher, Island Princess, iv. 1. 
draft 1 , draught 1 (draft), w. and a. [This word 
has changed in prou. from draught (ME. and 
mod. Sc. pron. dracht) to draft (pron. draft, 
draft), and the fact has been recognized by the 
spelling draft, which, dating from late ME., is 
now the established form in the military, com- 
mercial, and many technical uses, in which the 
literary traditions in favor of draught are less 
felt; in other uses the spelling draught still 
prevails, though draft is not uncommon in many 
of them. There is no rational distinction be- 
tween the two forms ; draft is on all accounts 
preferable. (The/represents the changed sound 
of the orig. guttural ; a similar change is rec- 
ognized in the spelling dwarf.) Early mod. E. 
usually draught, rarely draft (dial, also drought, 
drait: see drought 2 , draif), < ME. draught, 
draugt, drauht, draht, also rarely drafts, also, 
with loss of the guttural, drawte, a drawing, 
pulling, pull, stroke, etc., not found in AS. (= 
MD. draght, draeht, D. dragt=~M.LG. LG. draeht, 
a load, burden, = MHG. traht, G. tracht, a load, 
= Icel. drdttr, a pulling, draft of fishes), = 
OSw. drcekt, Sw. dragt = Dan. dragt, a burden, 
litter, draft; with formative -t, < AS. dragon, 
draw, drag : see draw. The uses of draft are 
so numerous and involved that their exhibition 
in linear sequence is difficult. All the senses 
attached to the word in either spelling with 
their quotations are here necessarily exhibit- 
ed together under draft 1 , draught^, although, of 
course, most of the obsolete senses are found 
only in the older spelling draught (in its vari- 
ous ME. forms). Modern senses in which the 
spelling draught is still prevalent over draft 
are indicated. In cases not so indicated, draft 
is the prevalent spelling. The compounds in 
which draught is the only recorded spelling are 
given under that spelling.] I. n. 1. The act 
of drawing or dragging (in any sense} ; a draw- 
ing; a draw; a haul; a pull. [In this sense, 
and in senses 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 16, 19, etc., gen- 
erally spelled draught. See etymology and ex- 
amples.] 
And bent his bow, . . . and even there 
A large draught up to his eare 
He drew, and with an arrow . . . the queene a wounde 
He gave. Chaucer's Dream, 1. 787. 
She sent an arrow forth with mighty draught. 
Spenser, F. Q., IV. vii. 31. 
So doth the fisher consider the draught of his net, rather 
than the casting in. 
J. Bradford, Letters (Parker Soc., 1853), II. 211. 
Upon the draught of a pond not one fish was left. 
Sir X. Hale. 
2. The capacity of being dragged or hauled ; 
the yielding to a force which draws or drags : 
as, a cart or plow of easy draft. 3. The act of 
drawing water from a well, or any liquid from a 
vessel ; the state of being ready to be so drawn : 
as, ale on draught. 
Drawte of watyr owte of a welle, or other lycoure owte 
of a wesselle, [L.] Idem est [ac. quod haustus}. 
Prompt. Pan., p. 131. 
4. That which is drawn, dragged, or pulled ; a 
load or burden to be drawn. 
Delve diches, bere and drawe draghtes and berthens. 
MS. in HalKuxll. 
5. That which is secured by drawing or pull- 
ing; specifically, that which is obtained by 
drawing a net through the water in fishing; a 
haul. 
Som flscheres sold a draugte of fishes with the nettis. 
Treoisa, tr. of Higden's Polychronicon, III. 67. 
For he was astonished ... at the draught of the fishes 
which they had taken. Luke v. 9. 
What stands for "top" in wool manufacture is called 
first drafts in silk-combing. 
W. C. Bramwdl, Wool-Carder, p. 44. 
6. The act of drinking, as of water or wine. 
In his hands he took the goblet, but awhile the draught 
' r bore. Trench, Harmosan. 
7. A quantity of a liquid drunk at one time ; a 
quantity, especially of a medicine, prescribed 
to be drunk at one time. 
Thou shalle have drynke, . . . 
Have here the draght that I the hete (promised]. 
Tou-neley Mysteries, p. 228, 
1754 
For tfie whole Ocean would not serue the Snnne alone 
for a draught. Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 12. 
My purpose is to drink my morning's draught at the 
Thatched House. /. Walton, Complete Angler, p. 20. 
Prepare a sleeping Draught, to seal his Eyes. 
Conyreve, tr. of Ovid's Art of Love. 
Where once the sign-post caught the passing eye, 
Low lies that house where nut-brown draughts inspired. 
Goldsmith, Des. Vil. 
8f. A drawing by sensuous or mental motives ; 
attraction; enticement; inducement. 
For any luste of loves draught. 
Gouvr, Conf. Amant., I. 348. 
9. The act of drawing or taking away a part ; 
the act of taking a number or a portion from an 
aggregate ; a levy ; the act of depleting or re- 
ducing in number, force, etc. : as, a draft upon 
his resources. 
There remained many places of trust and profit unfilled, 
for which there were fresh draughts made out of the sur- 
rounding multitudes. Addiion, Vision of Justice. 
10. A selection of men or things for a special 
duty or purpose ; specifically, a selection or 
drawing of persons from the general body of 
the people, by lot or otherwise, for military ser- 
vice; a levy; conscription; also, a selection of 
persons already in service, to be sent from one 
post or organization to another, in either the 
army or the navy ; a detachment ; also, a trans- 
fer of vessels of war to a different fleet or squad- 
ron. 
Several of the States had supplied the deficiency by 
drafts to serve for the year. Marshall. 
The operation of the draft, with the high bounties paid 
for army recruits, is beginning to affect injuriously the 
naval service, Lincoln, in Raymond, p. 423. 
11. A team of horses in a cart or wagon. 
Brockett. [Prov. Eng.] 12. The depth of 
water which a ship draws or requires to float 
it ; the depth a ship sinks in water, especially 
when laden : as, a ship of 12 feet draft. If the 
vessel is fully laden, it is termed the load-water 
draft; if unloaded, the light-water draft. 
He is the first that hath come to any certainty before- 
hand, of foretelling the draught of water of a ship before 
she be launched. Pcpys, Diary, II. 378. 
13. A written order drawn by one person upon 
another; a writing directing the payment of 
money on account of the drawer ; a bill of ex- 
change ; particularly, an inland bill of ex- 
change. Drafts are frequently used by the agents or offi- 
cers of corporations, one agent drawing on another. One 
reason for using them is the convenience in keeping ac- 
counts and having vouchers for payments. Drafts are 
frequently used between municipal officers, and are not 
usually negotiable instruments when thus used. Abbre- 
viated aft. 
You shall have a drauaht upon him, payable at sight ; 
and, let me tell you, he is as warm a man as any within 
five miles round him. Goldsmith, Vicar, xiv. 
I thought it most prudent to defer the drafti till ad- 
vice was received of the progress of the loan. 
A. Hamilton. 
He was driven to the expedient of replenishing the ex- 
chequer by draughts on his new subjects. 
Pregcott, Ferd. and Isa., ii. 19. 
14. The distance to which an arrow may be 
shot ; a bow-shot. Also called bow-draught. 
Fro thens a Bowe drawghte, toward the Southe, is the 
Chirche, where seynt James and Zacharie the Prophete 
weren buryed. Mandemlle, Travels, p. 96. 
He with-drogh hym a draght & a dyn made, 
Gedrit all his gynge and his grounde held. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1224. 
He wente and com in sot-he maner till thei be come 
nygh the wode, with-ynne a bowe draught where the kynge 
and his thre bretheren were. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), iii. 514. 
15. The drawing or moving of air; the air so 
drawn or moved ; a confined current of air, as 
in a room or in the flue of a chimney. The draft 
of a chimney depends, apart from the mode of construc- 
tion, on the difference of the density of the rarefied column 
inside the chimney, as compared with an equal column of 
the external atmosphere, or on the difference in height of 
the two columns of elastic fluid, supposing them reduced 
to the same standard of density. The velocity of the cur- 
rent is the same as that of a heavy body let fall from a 
height equal to the difference in height of two such aerial 
columns. Drafts may be produced or increased (a) by a 
blast which rarefies the air above the fire (a blast-draft), or 
(b) by blowers which compress the air beneath the fire (a 
forced draft). 
The topmost elm-tree gather'd green 
From draughts of balmy air. 
Tennyson, Launcelot and Guinevere. 
A draft of air came up the staircase and rattled the latch 
of Philip's room. J. Hawthorne, Dust, p. 207. 
16f. A move in chess or checkers. 
With a draght he was chekmate. MS. in Halliwell. 
Of the progression and draughted of the forsayde playe 
of the chesse. Caxton, Playe of the Chesse, p. 4. 
draft 
But I deliuere weel this checke, 
I leese my game at this draugte. 
Uymnsto Virgin, etc. (E. E. T. S.), p. 76. 
17. pi. The game of checkers. The name draughts 
(literally ' moves') has reference to the manner of playing, 
the name checkers to the kind of board used. See check- 
er*, $. 
The chekker was choisly there chosen the first, 
The draghtes, the dyse, and other dregh games. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1621. 
There are two methods of playing at draughts: the one 
commonly used in England, denominated the French 
Game, which is played upon a chess-board, and the other 
called the Polish Game, because, I presume, the first was 
invented in France and the latter in Poland. 
Strutt, Sports and Pastimes, p. 415. 
18. A mild blister; a poultice. 19f. A drain; 
a sink; a privy. Mark vii. 19. 
Hang them, or stab them, drown them in a draught, 
Confound them by some course. Shak., T. of A., v. i. 
20. An allowance for waste of goods sold by 
weight; also, an allowance made at the cus- 
tom-house on excisable goods. [Eng.] 21. 
The act of drawing ; delineation ; that which is 
delineated: a representation by lines, as the 
figure of a house, a machine, a fort, etc., drawn 
on paper ; a drawing or first sketch ; an outline. 
We are not of opinion, ... as some are, that nature 
in working hath before her certain exemplary draughts or 
patterns. Hooker, Eecles. Polity, i. 3. 
The drafts or sea- plats being consulted, it was concluded 
to go to certain Islands lying in lat. 23" north. 
Dampier, Voyages, an. 1687. 
The cemeterial cells of ancient Christians and martyrs 
were filled with draughts of Scripture stories. 
Sir T. Browne, Urn -burial, iii. 
For not only the judgment upon that nation [the Jewish] 
was a draught, as it were, in little of the great day, but the 
symptoms and fore-runners of the one were to bear a pro- 
portion with the other. Stillinafteet, Sermons, I. xi. 
Hence 22. A first sketch, outline, or copy of 
any writing or composition ; the proposed form 
of a written instrument prepared for amend- 
ment and alteration, as may be required, pre- 
liminary to making a fair copy. 
In the original draft of the instructions was a curious 
paragraph which, on second thoughts, it was determined 
to omit. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., xxiii. 
23f. A treatise ; a discourse. 
Thetich habbe hier beuore yssewed [showed] . . . huer 
(where] Uiet ic spek of the wyttes of the zaule [soul] ate 
ginninge of the dragthe of uirtue. 
Ayenbite of Imryt (E. E. T. S.), p. 251. 
24f. A drawbridge : same as draught-bridge. 
Thay let down the grete dragt, and derely out geden. 
Sir Gawayne and the Green Knight (E. E. T. S.), 1. 817. 
25. In founding, the slight bevel given to the 
pattern for a casting, in order that it may be 
drawn from the sand without injury to the mold. 
26. In masonry, a line on the surface of a 
stone hewn to the breadth of the chisel. 27. 
In weaving, the cording of a loom or the ar- 
rangement of the heddles. 
The draught and tie-up, as it is called, for weaving the 
twill. A. Barlow, Weaving, p. 108. 
28. The sectional area of the openings in a 
turbine-wheel or in a sluice-gate. 29. The 
degree of deflection of a millstone-furrow from 
a radial direction. 30f. A stroke. 
No man ne myghte asytte 
Hys swordes drauqht. 
Ottoman, L 1665 (Weber's Metr. Rom., III.). 
xij draughtes with the egge of the knyfe the venison 
crossande. Babees Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 141. 
31f. Skill; art; stratagem. 
He made wel the tabernacle als hem was tagt, 
Goten and grauen with witter dragt. 
Genesis and Exodus (E. E. T. S.), 1. 3822. 
For Arvirage his brothers place supplyde 
Both in his armes and crowne, and by that draught 
Did drive the Komanes to the weaker syde. 
Spenser, F. Q., II. x. 51. 
32f. A company or lot. [Slang.] 
A draught of butlers. 
Strutt, Sports and Pastimes, p. 80. 
33. The heart, liver, and lights of a calf or 
sheep: in this sense only draught. Also called 
pluck. [Prov. Eng. and Scotch.] Angle of 
draft. See angles. Black draught. See black-dravght. 
Delivery draft, in molding, the construction of a pat- 
tern by tapering its parts, or otherwise so forming it 
that it can be withdrawn without breaking the mold. 
Drifts in the sheer draft, in ship-building, those pieces 
where the rails are cut off. They are ended with scrolls 
and called drift-pieces. Effervescing draught, a solu- 
tion of citrate of potassium given in a state of efferves- 
cence, prepared by mixing lemon-juice, or a solution of 
citric acid, with a solution of carbonate or bicarbonate of 
potassium. Margin draft. See margin. On draught. 
See def. 3. Reverting draft, in a steam-boiler, sucn an 
arrangement of the draft that the current of hot air and 
smoke is caused to return in a course parallel to its first 
course. .B. //. Knight. Sheer draft, in ship-buildtng. 
See the extract. 
