Draft

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

• Draft or draught may mean:
  • Draft or The Draft, synonymous for conscription, especially conscription in the United States relating to the military or military service
  • Draft (sports), a system for allocating players among teams
  • Draft (hull), the vertical distance from the bottom of a hull to the waterline at the lowest part of a ship or boat
  • Draft (sailing), the degree of curvature in a horizontal cross-section in sailing
  • Draft (water), to move a liquid from below the intake of a suction pump
  • Draft (combustion) is the incoming flow of air of a Boiler or engine
  • Draft (politics), an attempt to persuade a political candidate to enter an election
  • Draughts (or checkers), a popular board game
  • In finance, a draft is an order for the payment of money (see check)
  • The Draft (band), a rock band from Florida.
  • The Draft was a comic book in the New Universe imprint of Marvel Comics

• Drafting (but not draughting) can mean:
  • Drafting, technical drawing and engineering drawing in engineering and architecture
  • Drafting (racing), a technique for reducing drag in racing

• Draft or draught may be used in combination with several words:
  • Air draft (nautical), the vertical distance from the highest point on a ship or boat to the waterline
  • Draft document, one of several revisions to a manuscript
  • Draught beer (or draft beer), beer that has been served from a container by pump or pressure
  • Draft horse (or draught horse), a large, strong horse bred for heavy work rather than speed
  • Draft dog (or draught dog), a large, strong dog used for pulling carts or work (see Working Group (dogs))

[edit] Note on spelling

In Britain the word is spelled draught in some senses and draft in others. It is draught beer, a draught horse, a draught meaning a current of air or a ship's minimum depth of water to float, and the game draughts - all of which retain the older spelling draught. The simplified spelling draft is used for a plan or sketch, for a preliminary version of a document and for the verb meaning to write it, for an order of payment, and for military conscription (although this last meaning is not as common as in American English). In the USA the spelling is draft in all these cases.