- 1 draft something to write the first rough version of something such as a letter, speech or book to draft a constitution/contract/bill I'll draft a letter for you. Wordfinderdocumentagreement, binding, certificate, clause, deed, document, draft, draw up, subsection, witness Oxford Collocations Dictionary adverbcarefully, properly, well, … See full entry See related entries: Writing and publishing, Business deals, Legal documents
- 2draft somebody + adv./prep. to choose people and send them somewhere for a special task Extra police are being drafted in to control the crowds.
- 3[usually passive] draft somebody (North American English) = conscript They were drafted into the army. Word Originmid 16th cent.: phonetic spelling of draught.Extra examples Some of the clauses in the contract had been very poorly drafted. The bill as originally drafted would have made the tobacco companies a lot more vulnerable to lawsuits. hastily drafted pieces of legislation I’ll draft a letter for you. They have already drafted a contract and started preparing to work together.
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BrE BrE//drɑːft//; NAmE NAmE//dræft//
(also draught especially in British English)Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they draft BrE BrE//drɑːft//; NAmE NAmE//dræft//
he / she / it drafts BrE BrE//drɑːfts//; NAmE NAmE//dræfts//
past simple drafted BrE BrE//ˈdrɑːftɪd//; NAmE NAmE//ˈdræftɪd//
past participle drafted BrE BrE//ˈdrɑːftɪd//; NAmE NAmE//ˈdræftɪd//
-ing form drafting BrE BrE//ˈdrɑːftɪŋ//; NAmE NAmE//ˈdræftɪŋ//
Writing and publishing, Business deals, Legal documentsCheck pronunciation: draft
