draught

[draft, drahft] /dræft, drɑft/
noun
1.
draughts, (used with a singular verb) British. the game of checkers.
2.
Chiefly British, draft (defs 1, 3–10, 18–25, 38).
verb (used with object)
3.
Chiefly British, draft (defs 28–32).
verb (used without object)
4.
Chiefly British, draft (def 33).
adjective
5.
Chiefly British, draft (defs 35–37).
Origin
1150-1200; Middle English draht (cognate with Dutch dracht, German Tracht, Old Norse drāttr); akin to Old English dragan to draw, drōht a pull (at the oars)
Related forms
draughter, noun
underdraught, noun
Can be confused
draft, draught, drought (see pronunciation note at the current entry)
Pronunciation note
Draught is a variant spelling of draft and is normally pronounced the same way, as
[draft] /dræft/ (Show IPA) or
[drahft] /drɑft/ or with a vowel somewhere between
[a] /æ/ and
[ah] /ɑ/ . A pronunciation
[drawt] /drɔt/ is sometimes heard for draught, perhaps because -aught is frequently pronounced
[-awt] /-ɔt/ elsewhere, as in caught and taught.

checker1

[chek-er] /ˈtʃɛk ər/
noun
1.
a small, usually red or black disk of plastic or wood, used in playing checkers.
2.
checkers.
  1. Also called, British, draughts. (used with a singular verb) a game played by two persons, each with 12 playing pieces, on a checkerboard.
  2. (in a regenerative furnace) loosely stacked brickwork through which furnace gases and incoming air are passed in turn, so that the heat of the exhaust is absorbed and later transferred to the incoming air.
3.
a checkered pattern.
4.
one of the squares of a checkered pattern.
verb (used with object)
5.
to mark like a checkerboard.
6.
to diversify in color; variegate.
7.
to diversify in character; subject to alternations:
Sorrow and joy have checkered his life.
Also, British, chequer.
Origin
1250-1300; Middle English checker chessboard < Anglo-French escheker (by aphesis), equivalent to eschec check + -er -er2
Examples from the web for draughts
  • After all, people who gulp down vast draughts of bandwidth might be expected to pay more than less grasping users.
  • Knowing when to open or close the direct damper and upper and lower draughts was an art that took considerable practice.
  • Salmon, trout, and char in these streams have little chance for survival during draughts.
  • Especially valuable are the reports of viewers which often include detailed draughts.
  • They slept in hammocks and cold draughts last night.
British Dictionary definitions for draughts

draughts

/drɑːfts/
noun
1.
(functioning as sing) a game for two players using a draughtboard and 12 draughtsmen each. The object is to jump over and capture the opponent's pieces US and Canadian name checkers
Word Origin
C14: plural of draught (in obsolete sense: a chess move)

checker1

/ˈtʃɛkə/
noun, verb
1.
the usual US spelling of chequer
noun
2.
(textiles) a variant spelling of chequer (sense 2)
3.
(US & Canadian) any one of the 12 flat thick discs used by each player in the game of checkers Also called (in Britain and certain other countries) draughtsman

checker2

/ˈtʃɛkə/
noun (mainly US & Canadian)
1.
a cashier, esp in a supermarket
2.
an attendant in a cloakroom, left-luggage office, etc

draught

/drɑːft/
noun
1.
a current of air, esp one intruding into an enclosed space
2.
  1. the act of pulling a load, as by a vehicle or animal
  2. (as modifier): a draught horse
3.
the load or quantity drawn
4.
a portion of liquid to be drunk, esp a dose of medicine
5.
the act or an instance of drinking; a gulp or swallow
6.
the act or process of drawing air, smoke, etc, into the lungs
7.
the amount of air, smoke, etc, inhaled in one breath
8.
  1. beer, wine, etc, stored in bulk, esp in a cask, as opposed to being bottled
  2. (as modifier): draught beer
  3. on draught, drawn from a cask or keg
9.
Also called draughtsman. any one of the 12 flat thick discs used by each player in the game of draughts US and Canadian equivalent checker
10.
the depth of a loaded vessel in the water, taken from the level of the waterline to the lowest point of the hull
11.
feel the draught, to be short of money
See also draughts
Derived Forms
draughter, (US) drafter, noun
Word Origin
C14: probably from Old Norse drahtr, of Germanic origin; related to draw
Word Origin and History for draughts
n.

British name for the tabletop game that in U.S. is checkers, c.1400, from draught, perhaps because the pieces are "dragged" over the board in moves. Earlier it is recorded as jeu de dames (late 14c.).

checker

n.

mid-13c., "game of chess (or checkers);" c.1300, "a chessboard, board with 64 squares for playing chess or similar games; a set of chessmen" a shortening of Old French eschequier "chessboard; a game of chess," from Medieval Latin scaccarium (see check (n.)).

Meaning "pattern of squares" is late 14c. Meaning "a man or marker in the game of checkers" is from 1864. British prefers chequer. From late 14c. as "a checked design." The word had earlier senses of "table covered with checked cloth for counting" (late 12c. in Anglo-Latin), a sense also in Old French (see checker (n.2)).

"table covered with a checked cloth," specialized sense of checker (n.1), late 14c. (in Anglo-Latin from c.1300); especially a table for counting money or keeping accounts (revenue reckoned with counters); later extended to "the fiscal department of the English Crown; the Exchequer (mid-14c.; in Anglo-Latin from late 12c.).

v.

"to ornament with a checked or chackered design," late 14c. (implied in checkered), from Old French eschequeré and from checker (n.1). Related: Checkering.

draught

n.

c.1200, from Old English *dreaht, *dræht, related to dragan "to draw, drag" (see drag). Oldest sense besides that of "pulling" is of "drinking." It retains the functions that did not branch off with draft (q.v.).