Draft

[Corrupted from DRAUGHT, q. v.] A drawing; anything drawn. -An order directing the payment of money; a bill of ex change; as, a draft on a banker. ( Mil . ) A drawing or selection of men from an army, or from one corps to complete another; as, drafts from a regiment. (Com.) An allowance for waste on goods sold by weight; as, the draft on a chest of tea. - An allowance made at a custom-house on excisable goods. ( Naut .) Depth of water nece ary to float a ship; as, her draft is sixteen feet. -A drawing of lines for a plan; delineation; sketch; plan delineated; outline of a writing or document; as, the draft of a letter. See DRAUGHT. -A current of air. See DRAUGHT. v.a. To draw; to delineate; to draw the outline of; as, to draft a plan. - To compose in an epistolary or literary manner; as, to draft a petition. - To draw men from a military body or position; to select; to detach; to draw men from any company, a ociation, or collection; as, to draft men for the army. Draft'-engine, n. (Mining.) An engine used for pumping, .; a donkey-engine. Draft'-horse, n. See DRAUGHT-HORSE. Draft'-net, n. See DRAUGHT-NET. Draft'-ox, n. See DRAUGHT-OX. Drafts'man, n. Same as DRAUGHTSMAN, q. v. Drag, v . a. [A.S. drag an ; D. trekken ; Icel. dragna , to be drawn; Lat. traho , to draw, drag, or haul. See TRACT.] To draw; to pull; to haul; to draw along the ground by main force; to draw along slowly or heavily. "A wounded snake drags its slow length along."-Pope. -To pull about with force, roughne , or violence. "The weight of my misfortunes dragg'd you down." - Dryden. -To draw, as anything burdensome; - hence, to pa in trouble, sorrow, or difficulty. "My heart... drags at each remove a lengthening chain." Goldsmith. -To draw contemptuously along, as unworthy to be car ried. "He is content to drag me at his chariot-wheels."-Stilling fleet. - To harrow; to explore with a drag. -v. n. To be drawn or dragged along; to hang so low as to trail on the ground; as, " dragging chains." Dryden . -To fish with a drag; to recover by means of a drag; as, to drag for a drowned person. To be moved slowly; to proceed heavily; to pa lingeringly. "The day drags through, though storms keep out the sun." Byron. -To hang or grate on the ground, as a door. -n. A net or something to be drawn along the ground. ( Agric .) A particular kind of harrow for breaking up ground. -A low cart or sledge for transporting heavy weights; as, a timber-drag. -In England, a carriage resembling a stage-coach; as, a four-in-hand drag. -An instrument with hooks, to catch hold of things under water, and bring them to the surface. A machine for dredging docks, rivers, . - See DREDGING MACHINE. -A mechanical arrangement, by which the speed of a vehicle can be decreased by stopping or slackening the rotation of one or more of the wheels. The original D. was a very primitive arrangement, and was generally called the shoe or skid ; it consisted of a hollow piece of iron, not unlike a shoe in shape, which fitted the tire of one of the hind wheels. It was attached to the bottom of the carriage by a chain, and when applied was put under one of the hind wheels; by this means, acting as a sort of wedge, it prevented the wheel from going round, and thus retarded the velocity of the vehicle. The invention of the patent drag was a great improvement upon this clumsy mechanism. By means of the patent drag a sort of skid is pre ed against one of the sides of a wheel, effecting all the stoppage required, with the advantage that the whole can be regulated by the driver, without stopping or getting down, by means of a handle connected with a series of rods and levers. In the case of the shoe-drag, the stoppage of the carriage every time it was put on or taken off was absolutely nece ary. The use of the D. is to keep the vehicle from pre ing too hard upon the horses when going down-hill at their ordinary pace. Powerful drags, which act in a similar manner to that described, are used for stopping or decreasing the speed of railroad trains. -A heavy, listle motion or movement; as, "a drag in his walk." ( Hazlitt.) - A barge or boat in tow. (Naut.) Whatever serves to retard a ship's way. Any person or thing that is an obstacle to progre or prosperity; as, a large family of children is a drag to a poor man. (Mach.) In marine steam-engineering, the difference between the propulsive powers of the various floats of a paddle-wheel, or blades of a screw-propeller. (Founding.) See DRAG-BOX. (Building.) In masonry, a steel instrument for completing the dre ing of soft stone without grit. Dragan'tine, n. A mucilage prepared from gum tragacanth.