Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to:

Watercraft dimensions

Draft (hull) The draft or draught of a ship is a determined depth of the vessel below the waterline, measured vertically to its hull's lowest—its propellers, or keel, or other reference point. Draft varies according to the loaded condition of the ship. ...

, the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail *

Air draft Air draft (or air draught) is the vertical distance from the surface of the water to the highest point on a vessel. This is similar to the '' deep draft'' of a vessel which is measured from the surface of the water to the deepest part of the h ...

, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vessel

Selection processes

Draft (politics) In elections in the United States, political drafts are used to encourage or pressure a certain person to enter a political race, by demonstrating a significant groundswell of support for the candidate. History 20th century Movements to draft ...

, groundswell of support to compel a candidate to run for office *

Draft (sports) A draft is a process used in some countries (especially in North America) and sports (especially in closed leagues) to allocate certain players to teams. In a draft, teams take turns selecting from a pool of eligible players. When a team selec ...

, selection of players for professional sports teams *

Conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

, selection for e.g. military service

Entertainment

* Draft (musician) (born 1986), electronic musician and DJ * ''Drafted'' (comics), a 2007 comic released by Devil's Due Publishing * ''The Draft'' (comics), a 1988 one-shot comic book from Marvel Comics * The Draft (band), an American punk rock band * ''The Draft!'' (film), a 2023 Indonesian science fiction horror film * WWE draft, a World Wrestling Entertainment program which drafts superstars to different WWE brands *

Draughts Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; Commonwealth English), is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve forward movements of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. ...

, board game, a.k.a. checkers * The Draft (''The League''), the series premiere of the FX (TV channel) television series ''The League'' * ''Draft'' (magazine), an American magazine about beer and beer culture

Heating, cooling, air flow

Draft (boiler) In a water boiler, draft is the difference between atmospheric pressure and the pressure existing in the furnace or flue gas passage. Draft can also be referred to as the difference in pressure in the combustion chamber area which results in the mo ...

, difference between atmospheric pressure and the boiler pressure * Chimney draught, outgoing flow into chimney of gases from combustion *

Draught excluder A draught excluder or draft guard is a device used to prevent cold air from entering a building through gaps around entry points such as doors, windows and fireplaces. Types Door A door draught excluder is placed at the bottom of a door to ...

, used to eliminate cold draught and slow heat loss * Mechanical draft, incoming flow of air to burn fuel for a boiler or engine *

Vertical draft In meteorology, an updraft (British English: ''up-draught'') is a small-scale current of rising air, often within a cloud. Overview Vertical drafts, known as updrafts or downdrafts, are localized regions of warm or cool air that move vertically ...

, vertical movement of air, which can be dangerous to airplanes

Finance

Demand draft A demand draft (DD) is a negotiable instrument similar to a bill of exchange. A bank issues a demand draft to a client (drawer), directing another bank (drawee) or one of its own branches to pay a certain sum to the specified party (payee). A d ...

, a check created by a merchant with a buyer's account number on it, but without the buyer's signature *

Banker's draft A banker's draft (also called a bank cheque, bank draft in Canada or, in the United States, US, a teller's check) is a cheque (or cheque, check) provided to a customer of a bank or acquired from a bank for remittance purposes, that is drawn by th ...

, a form of check where the funds are taken directly from the financial institution * Sight draft, or time draft, an order for the payment of money by a banker

Other uses

Draught beer Draught beer, also spelt draft, is beer served from a cask or keg rather than from a bottle or can. Draught beer served from a pressurised keg is also known as Name Until Joseph Bramah patented the beer engine in 1785, beer was served ...

or other beverage, served from a bulk keg or cask rather than a bottle or can * Draft (engineering), the angle added to features perpendicular to the parting line of a casting or molding * Draft (aerodynamics), two objects in close proximity reducing overall drag *

Draft document Drafting is the process by which preliminary forms of a written work are composed. Separate from other steps of the writing process, such as Revision (writing), revision and editing, drafting involves the initial creation of the main content, ...

, a version of an unfinished document or other written work * Draft animal, an animal used to perform tasks **

Draft horse A draft horse (US) or draught horse (UK), also known as dray horse, carthorse, work horse or heavy horse, is a large horse bred to be a working animal hauling freight and doing heavy agricultural tasks such as plowing. There are a number o ...

, a large horse bred to be a working animal doing hard tasks such as plowing and other farm labor ** Draught dog, a variety of working dog used to pull a cart * Draft (water) * Draught, an alternate term for a