I. draft 1 S2 W3 AC /drɑːft $ dræft/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Origin: ⇨ ↑ draught 1 ]
1 . PIECE OF WRITING a piece of writing or a plan that is not yet in its finished form:
the rough draft of his new novel
I read the first draft and thought it was very good.
All parties eventually approved the final draft (=finished form) of the peace treaty.
2 . MILITARY the draft American English
a) a system in which people are ordered to join the army, navy etc, especially during a war SYN conscription
b) the group of people who are ordered to do this
3 . MONEY especially British English a written order for money to be paid by a bank, especially from one bank to another
4 . SPORTS American English a system in which professional teams choose players from colleges to join their teams
5 . COLD AIR/BEER the American spelling of ↑ draught
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ adjectives
▪ the first/second etc draft
The second draft of the agreement contained a few important changes.
▪ the final draft (=the finished form)
He showed me the final draft of his letter.
▪ a rough draft (=not the finished form)
Could you let me see a rough draft of your report?
▪ the original draft (=the first one)
The hero had a different name in the original draft of the story.
▪ an early/earlier draft (=written before others)
In earlier drafts of the speech, he criticized the pace of political progress.
▪ a preliminary draft (=coming before others)
A preliminary draft of the charter has been issued.
■ verbs
▪ write/draw up/prepare a draft (=write one)
Always write a rough draft of your essay first.
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He drew up a draft of the club’s rules and regulations.
▪ approve a draft (=officially accept one)
The draft was approved by the Senate.
II. draft 2 AC BrE AmE verb [transitive]
1 . PIECE OF WRITING to write a plan, letter, report etc that will need to be changed before it is in its finished form:
Eva’s busy drafting her speech for the conference.
2 . MILITARY [usually passive] to order someone to join the army, navy etc, especially during a war SYN conscript
be drafted into something
My dad was eighteen when he got drafted into the army.
3 . SPORTS American English to choose a college player to join a professional team:
Craigwell was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks.
draft somebody ↔ in ( also draft somebody into something ) phrasal verb
to ask or order someone to work in a place where they do not normally work:
Extra staff were drafted in to deal with the Christmas rush.
Hundreds of police have been drafted into the area.
III. draft 3 AC BrE AmE adjective
1 . draft proposal/copy/version etc a piece of writing that is not yet in its finished form
2 . the American spelling of ↑ draught
IV. draught 2 BrE AmE British English , draft American English adjective [only before noun]
1 . draught beer is served from a large container rather than a bottle
2 . a draught animal is used for pulling heavy loads