Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The game of checkers.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun plural A mild vesicatory. See draught, n., 3 (c).
  • noun plural A game, now more commonly called checkers. See checkers.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Plural form of draught.
  • noun board games, UK, uncountable A board game for two players in which the players each have 20 pieces, known as men, and the object is to capture each of the opponent's pieces by jumping one's own pieces over the opponent's pieces. (See the Wikipedia page for the full rules of the game. There are various variants of the game.)
  • verb Third-person singular simple present indicative form of draught.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a checkerboard game for two players who each have 12 pieces; the object is to jump over and so capture the opponent's pieces

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English draughtes, pl. of draught, act of pulling, move at chess; see draft.]

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Examples

  • We have lived to see enacted on this land which we have claimed for Christian civilization, the feats that were deemed heroic, centuries ago by barbarians who could quench their rage only in draughts from the skulls of their slain foes.

    A Sermon on the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln 1865

  • With a whaleboat towing for steerage and as a precaution against back-draughts from the cliff, and taking advantage of a fan of breeze, he shook the Rattler full into it and glided by the big coral patch without warping.

    THE DEVILS OF FUATINO 2010

  • The cell was so small that my legs, which are long, had to be tucked up almost under my chin; I could imagine that in hot weather the want of air would be oppressive, but though the sense of being so closely confined was disagreeable, the draughts from the ventilators seemed to play upon one almost excessively and I felt very cold.

    Prisons and Prisoners: Some Personal Experiences 1914

  • With a whaleboat towing for steerage and as a precaution against back-draughts from the cliff, and taking advantage of a fan of breeze, he shook the Rattler full into it and glided by the big coral patch without warping.

    The Devils of Fuatino 1912

  • That is to say the Regiment ate home collects recruits, trains them and sends 'them out in draughts to the Regiment abroad.

    The Organization of the Military Forces of the Empire 1911

  • I complained, and was given another room where the draughts were the same, but I was without my coughing and hawking neighbour.

    In Troubadour-Land A Ramble in Provence and Languedoc 1879

  • He came to criticise and remained to play a game of "draughts," as he called them, with

    Janice Day at Poketown Helen Beecher Long

  • In the line of these currents of cold air, or "draughts" as they are usually called, it is impossible to experience any comfort -- quite the contrary; and colds, rheumatism, and many other serious maladies are brought on through this abundant supply of fresh air in the wrong way and place.

    Scientific American Supplement, No. 514, November 7, 1885 Various

  • In this highly heated state our governess was, of course, sensitive to the smallest inlet of cooler air, and "draughts" were accordingly her abhorrence.

    Six to Sixteen: A Story for Girls 1872

  • In this highly heated state our governess was, of course, sensitive to the smallest inlet of cooler air, and "draughts" were accordingly her abhorrence.

    Six to Sixteen A Story for Girls Juliana Horatia Gatty Ewing 1863

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