: a dealer in cloth and sometimes also in clothing and dry goods
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebLisa drove slowly, between five and six miles per hour, as the combine’s forty-foot-wide draper head cut the wheat with sickles that looked like oversized shark teeth. Michael Holtz, The New Yorker, 22 July 2022 Bertie’s stint as assistant schoolmaster under a family friend suited him better but ended when the school closed; another round of trials as apprentice pharmacist, draper, and trainee teacher followed. Stephanie Burt, The New Republic, 29 Mar. 2022 That same greenery accented the mantelpieces and serving tables and ran the length of the old draper’s table at which the guests sat.New York Times, 20 Dec. 2021 At age 14, he was apprenticed in a draper’s shop, a soul-killing job the boy hated.Washington Post, 3 Nov. 2021 The poet’s third husband was Richard Prowse, of Exeter, a prominent draper who was also the city’s bailiff, sheriff, alderman, and mayor, as well as a Member of Parliament. Jamie Quatro, The New Yorker, 5 Aug. 2019 Here’s the draper Baudu: The place would soon be really ridiculous in its immensity; the customers would lose themselves in it. Benedict Evans, WIRED, 26 July 2019 K St., 1420-Robert Draper to Emerson Siegle and Ariel Xue, $772,500.Washington Post, 30 Aug. 2017 Teacher’s pet in the best possible way: the perfect draper, perfect sketcher, won all the awards. Matthew Schneier, New York Times, 2 Sep. 2016 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle English, weaver, clothier, from Anglo-French draper, from drap cloth — more at drab
First Known Use
14th century, in the meaning defined above
Geographical Definition
Draper
geographical name
Dra·per ˈdrā-pər
city in north central Utah south of Salt Lake City population 42,274