draw

/dɹɑ/

//dɹɑ// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"draw" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“draw” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,629 in English word frequency and used as a verb.

#1,629
frequency rank, English
4
letters
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

draw vs dw
50% similar
draw vs dry
50% similar
draw vs Dre
25% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for draw
PropertyValue
Headworddraw
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/dɹɑ/
Letters4
Frequency rank#1,629
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “draw” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). draw lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for draw is 4 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /dɹɑ/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,629 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 138 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for draw, with forms such as "darw", "ddraw", and "draww". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "dw", "dry", "Dre", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: The verb is derived from Middle English drauen, drawen, draȝen, dragen (“to drag, pull; to draw (out); to attract; to entice, lure; to lead; to make a drawing; to move, travel; etc.”), from Old English dragan (“to drag, draw”), from Proto-West Germanic *dra… The correct English form is draw, spelled D-R-A-W.

Definition

  1. 1
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  2. 2
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  3. 3
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  4. 4
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  5. 5
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  6. 6
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  7. 7
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  8. 8
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  9. 9
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  10. 10
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  11. 11
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  12. 12
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  13. 13
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  14. 14
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  15. 15
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  16. 16
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  17. 17
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  18. 18
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  19. 19
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  20. 20
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  21. 21
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  22. 22
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  23. 23
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  24. 24
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  25. 25
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  26. 26
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  27. 27
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  28. 28
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  29. 29
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  30. 30
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  31. 31
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  32. 32
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  33. 33
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  34. 34
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  35. 35
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  36. 36
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  37. 37
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  38. 38
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  39. 39
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  40. 40
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  41. 41
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  42. 42
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  43. 43
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  44. 44
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  45. 45
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  46. 46
    Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
  47. 47
    Senses relating to attracting.
  48. 48
    Senses relating to attracting.
  49. 49
    Senses relating to attracting.
  50. 50
    Senses relating to attracting.
  51. 51
    Senses relating to attracting.
  52. 52
    Senses relating to attracting.
  53. 53
    Senses relating to attracting.
  54. 54
    Senses relating to attracting.
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    Senses relating to attracting.
  56. 56
    Senses relating to attracting.
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    Senses relating to attracting.
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    Senses relating to attracting.
  59. 59
    Senses relating to attracting.
  60. 60
    Senses relating to attracting.
  61. 61
    Senses relating to attracting.
  62. 62
    Senses relating to attracting.
  63. 63
    Senses relating to extending or protracting.
  64. 64
    Senses relating to extending or protracting.
  65. 65
    Senses relating to extending or protracting.
  66. 66
    Senses relating to extending or protracting.
  67. 67
    Senses relating to extending or protracting.
  68. 68
    Senses relating to extending or protracting.
  69. 69
    Senses relating to extending or protracting.
  70. 70
    Senses relating to extending or protracting.
  71. 71
    Senses relating to extending or protracting.
  72. 72
    Senses relating to extending or protracting.
  73. 73
    Senses relating to extending or protracting.
  74. 74
    Senses relating to extending or protracting.
  75. 75
    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
  76. 76
    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
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    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
  122. 122
    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
  123. 123
    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
  124. 124
    Senses relating to extracting or selecting.
  125. 125
    Senses relating to moving or travelling.
  126. 126
    Senses relating to moving or travelling.
  127. 127
    Senses relating to moving or travelling.
  128. 128
    Senses relating to moving or travelling.
  129. 129
    Senses relating to depicting or representing.
  130. 130
    Senses relating to depicting or representing.
  131. 131
    Senses relating to depicting or representing.
  132. 132
    Senses relating to depicting or representing.
  133. 133
    Senses relating to depicting or representing.
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    Senses relating to depicting or representing.
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    Senses relating to depicting or representing.
  136. 136
    Senses relating to depicting or representing.
  137. 137
    Senses relating to depicting or representing.
  138. 138
    Senses relating to depicting or representing.

Etymology

The verb is derived from Middle English drauen, drawen, draȝen, dragen (“to drag, pull; to draw (out); to attract; to entice, lure; to lead; to make a drawing; to move, travel; etc.”), from Old English dragan (“to drag, draw”), from Proto-West Germanic *dragan (“to carry; to haul”), from Proto-Germanic *draganą (“to carry; to pull, draw”); further etymology uncertain, often said to be from Proto-Indo-European *dʰregʰ- (“to pull, draw”), but possibly from a non-Indo-European substrate root which is also the source of Latin trahō (“to pull, draw; etc.”). Doublet of drag and draught. The noun is derived from Middle English drau, draue (“action of shooting with a bow”), from drauen, drawen (verb). cognates * Albanian dredh (“to turn, spin”) * Danish drage * Dutch dragen * German tragen (“to carry”) * Old Armenian դառնամ (daṙnam, “to turn”) * Sanskrit ध्रजस् (dhrájas, “gliding course or motion”) * West Frisian drage

This word in other languages

dibujar(Español)dessiner(Français)zeichnen(Deutsch)desenhar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: darw,ddraw,draww,drraw,drwa,rdaw

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of draw - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

darw2ddraw1draww1drraw1drwa2rdaw2
Edit distance from "draw"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "draw"?
"draw" is spelled D-R-A-W. The IPA pronunciation is /dɹɑ/.
What does "draw" mean?
As a verb, "draw" means: Senses relating to exerting force or pulling.
What words are commonly confused with "draw"?
"draw" is commonly confused with "dw", "dry", "Dre". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "draw"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "draw" is /dɹɑ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "draw"?
The verb is derived from Middle English drauen, drawen, draȝen, dragen (“to drag, pull; to draw (out); to attract; to entice, lure; to lead; to make a drawing; to move, travel; etc.”), from Old English dragan (“to drag, draw”), from Proto-West Ger... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “draw”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is D-R-A-W - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /dɹɑ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “dw” - see the side-by-side comparison. draw vs dw
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list