Drains, subs. (nautical).—A ship’s cook; otherwise the doctor (q.v.).
Drammer.—See Drummer.
Draper.—See Gammon the Draper.
Drat, verb, and Dratted, adj. (colloquial).—A mild and indefinite
imprecation of contempt, or impatience. [A corruption of ‘God rot it.’]
For synonyms, see Oaths.
1846. Punch, vol. XI., p. 40, col. 2.
1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. xxi., p. 178. Drat you, be quiet!
says the good old man.
1864. Churchman’s Family Magazine, Nov., p. 420.
1869. Mrs. H. Wood, Roland Yorke, ch. v. If that dratted girl had
been at her post indoors ... it might never have happened.
1883. James Payn, Thicker than Water, ch. xxix. An observation
which, I am sorry to say, ... she supplemented with ‘Drat the
girl!’
Draught, subs. (colloquial).—A privy. For synonyms, see Mrs. Jones.
1602. Shakspeare, Troilus and Cressida, v. 1. Sweet draught! Sweet
quoth ’a! sweet sink, sweet sewer!
1633. Harrington, Epigrams. A godly father sitting on a draught, To
do as need and nature hath us taught, Mumbled (as was his manner)
certaine prayers.
Draw, subs. (popular).—1. An undecided contest. [An abbreviation of
‘drawn game.’]
2. (common).—An attraction; e.g., an article; a popular preacher; a
successful play; and so forth.
1883. Saturday Review, 21 April, p. 497, col. 2. The insinuation
that umbrellas are the creation of the devil to tempt otherwise
honest men ... is an unfailing draw, whether in a comic paper or an
after-dinner speech.
3. (cricket).—A stroke with the surface of the bat inclined to the
ground.
Verb (common).—1. To attract public attention.—See subs., sense 2.
1883. Hawley Smart, At Fault, III., xv., 238. Like a judicious
theatrical manager, he usually kept ‘his show’ running as long as
it would draw.
2. (thieves’).—To steal; to pick pockets. To draw a wipe or ticker = to
prig a handkerchief or watch; to draw a damper = to empty a till.
1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v. To draw a swell of a clout,
To pick a gentleman’s pocket of a handkerchief.
1878. Charles Hindley, Life and Times of James Catnach. Chorus.
Frisk the Cly and fork the rag, Draw the fogles plummy, Speak to
the tattler, bag the swag, And finely hunt the dummy.